I think that there is a safety aspect as well. The main intent of standing directly under the basket is to draw contact. The defender needs a collision to occur before this is a good defensive position. The collisions right under the basket invariably involve one player at the highest point of their jump. People stepping in late to draw a charge frequently undercut the airborne shooter, resulting in dangerous crashes to the floor.
The intent of assuming good defensive position outside of the immediate basket area is to prevent penetration. It may result in a collision (and a charging call) if an offensive player decides to attempt to go inside, but it often results in the offense deciding not to penetrate. The key difference being that collisions are not required to make this good defense. I would be happy with a change that eliminated the immediate basket area from charging calls.
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