This probably has to do with the league office trying to modify the pace of the games so it's more "entertaining" for the average fan. (Think no hand-checking rules, etc.) Fouls slow down the game.
I do notice that some fouls that were called in the past are no longer called. I think it's the right thing to do. Too many foul calls and free throws really slow down the game.
i was going to make a thread about this but i guess stu jackson saved me the trouble. i only went back 30 years (1982-83), but right now FTA/FGA is at the low for those 30 years. and despite the idea that nowadays all sorts of fouls are called and that the game used to be a brutal game where nothing short of felony assault got you a free throw, you can see that free throws have been on a long-term trend down. but part of that makes sense. 3 point attempts have been on a long-term trend up until the last few years and therefore you would expect fewer free throws. but even after adjusting for 3's (explanation omitted), free throws are still at about the 30 year low rate that they have now hit 4 times. (2011 is the baseline rate of 100, numbers below 100 indicate fewer fouls than expected were called, numbers over 100 indicate more fouls than expected were called) for whatever reason, free throws have gone in essentially 10 year cycles. nearly the same low rate has been hit in the early 80s, 90s, 2000s, and now the 2010s. and every time, the rate quickly bounced up and went up for about 5 years and then started coming back down. we'll see if there is a reaction to the current low that starts the cycle over again next year.
I've kept telling people that the complaint of foul calls slowing down the game into a free throw contest nowadays just is NOT TRUE. That there are LESS calls now. Its because there is more FLOPPING now in the league that it APPEARS foul calls come CHEAP. But the fact is Magic/Bird/Jordan "golden era" basketball had MORE FOULS calls and free throws a game.
