Steph Curry gets four-point play after defender hits his hand under NBA’s new “high-five” rule

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00:00Steph Curry gets four-point play after Defender hits his hand under NBA's new high-five rule.

00:06The NBA's 2025-26 season hasn't even officially tipped off yet.

00:12However, a single preseason clip from Golden State's Steph Curry is already shaking up basketball Twitter and possibly the league itself.

00:19The reason? A brand new rule that changes how referees whistle contact on jump shots.

00:24It's being dubbed the high-five rule.

00:26After seeing Curry turn it into a four-point play during the Warriors' preseason matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers,

00:33fans are convinced the NBA may have just made the best shooter ever literally unguardable.

00:38It's being dubbed the high-five rule.

00:40Now, any post-release contact that disrupts the follow-through is a foul.

00:45The clip comes from an NBC Sports Bay Area broadcast of the Warriors' preseason win over Portland last night, October 8th.

00:52As the ball arcs toward the rim, Trail Blazers defender Tumani Kamara lunges late, missing the ball but swiping Curry's wrist on the way down.

01:01That's the new one, color analyst Jim Barnett explains on the broadcast.

01:05At 37, Steph remains one of the game's most efficient scorers, averaging 26.4 points on 40.8% from deep last season,

01:14despite absorbing more post-release hacks than almost any other guard in the league.

01:18They're not allowing as much contact, Steve Kerr said.

01:22For Curry, whose release is the quickest in NBA history, defenders barely have time to contest, let alone avoid the hand.

01:29With the new rule, analysts project fouls per game rising from approximately 4.2 to approximately 5.5,

01:37and free throws per game from 4.9 to 6.5 plus, with points per game moving from 26.4 to 28 to 30,

01:45and missed games due to hand injuries dropping from 4 to 6 to an expected 0 to 2.

01:50The original post racked up over 680,000 views and 7,700 likes within hours.

01:57While NBC Sports Bay Area's repost drew another 2,000 plus likes.

02:01I'm not going to lie, if they actually enforce this, Steph might drop 30 a game, one user wrote, echoing the league-wide reaction.

02:09Critics like ESPN's Zach Lowe have called it the softest era yet,

02:13arguing that defenders are being stripped of realistic tools to contest without fouling.

02:19Refs are human, one coach told The Athletic.

02:22This is illegal contact, NBA VP of referee development, Monty McCutcheon said at the preseason officiating summit.

02:29Behind the scenes, sources say Steve Kerr has pushed this rule for years,

02:34citing the accumulation of hand and wrist injuries suffered by Curry and Klay Thompson.

02:38This is a win for shooters everywhere, Kerr said after the preseason game.