Okay, then why does the rule exist? I still stand by the statement that “no one’s in charge of common sense anymore”, which is even more true with a rule like that. It rewards breaking the rules.
It exists because the NBA RULES COMMITTEE wrote it into the rule book. Six fouls for a player was established in the 1947-48 season!!
http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_history.html
From the ESPN recap:
D’Antoni was informed by the officials that he could leave Sacre on the floor and any additional foul on the center would also result in a technical.
“I didn’t know about that rule, but it’s a nice rule,” D’Antoni said with a chuckle.
The REFS told the coach the rule.
The reason this is such a surprise is because NBA teams usually dress 12 players and it just doesn’t come up as a possibility.
AGAIN, there were NO rules broken
How does it reward breaking the rules?
A guy fouls out and stays in the game.
He commits a loose ball foul going for an offensive rebound while the team is over the limit for the quarter.
The guy he fouls shoots two for the foul, a third for the technical and the team gets the ball back on offense to try for a 5 or 6 point play.
Does that sound like a reward to you?