Imagine if Steve Kerr had the ability to challenge the questionable calls at the end of the Warriors-Timberwolves game on March 29.
Well, you won't have to imagine much longer.
The NBA Board of Governors on Tuesday unanimously approved two big changes to the instant replay rules.
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Kerr, Luke Walton and all other NBA coaches will now have to ability to challenge certain calls during games.
Additionally, the NBA Replay Center will have the ability to trigger replay reviews, similar to the system being used in the NFL where the replay officials buzz down to the game officials.
In terms of the Coach's Challenge, the NBA released very specific guidelines:
• Each team is entitled to one challenge in the game (regardless of whether the challenge is successful).
• A team can use its challenge in the following instances: a called personal foul charged to its own team; a called out-of-bounds violation; or a called goaltending or basket interference violation.
o A team can use its challenge on a called personal foul at any point in the game.
o In the last two minutes of the fourth period or the last two minutes of overtime, a called out-of-bounds violation or called goaltending/basket interference violation will not be challengeable and instead will be exclusively triggered by on-court referees.
• To initiate a challenge, a team must immediately call a legal timeout and the head coach must immediately signal for a challenge by twirling his/her finger toward the referees.
• If a team attempts to challenge an event with no remaining timeouts, the team is charged an excessive timeout, for which the penalty is a technical foul, and no challenge will take place.
• If a team calls a timeout to challenge an event that may not be reviewed, the team will be charged a timeout but retain its challenge.
• As with other replay reviews, in order to overturn the event as called on the floor, there must be clear and conclusive visual evidence that the call was incorrect.
NBA
So, on March 29, Kerr could have challenged the foul called on Kevin Durant in the final seconds that ended up costing the Warriors the game against Minnesota.
The NBA Replay Center can trigger a replay review during the first 46 minutes of regulation and the first three minutes of an overtime period to rule on two specific determinations:
• 2-Point or 3-Point Field Goals – i.e., whether a made field goal should count as two or three points or, in the event of a shooting foul, whether the offensive player should be awarded two or three free throws for being fouled on a shot attempt.
• Potential Shot Clock Violations – i.e., whether a successful field goal was attempted before or after the shot clock expired.
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The two replay review changes will be implemented on a one-year trial basis next season.
We imagine Kerr and Walton will make good use of their ability to challenge calls.