The NBA Board of Governors has approved expanded use of the coach’s challenge when reviewing out-of-bounds violations, the NBA league office said. announcement Tuesday.
Under the new ruling, if an instant replay is triggered by a coach’s challenge, officials on the field and the replay center will then be able to review video of the play and determine whether a foul should have been called in the vicinity of the violation.
In short, a coach’s challenge to a review of an out-of-bounds call can now result in the assessment of a previously missed or uncalled foul.
The NBA front office provided an example of how the new rule will work, using a call that was challenged in the most recent Western Conference Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Upon review, the video showed that Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving made contact with McDaniels’ arm, knocking the ball out of his hands. The Replay Center determined that McDaniels was the last to touch the ball and overturned the call, ruling Dallas’ challenge successful and awarding possession to the Mavericks.
In the room (see here), Dallas challenged the on-court call, which initially awarded Minnesota possession after an out-of-bounds play. The referees initially believed Dallas knocked the ball out of the hands of Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, and Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd issued a coach’s challenge.
Under the new ruling, the Mavericks’ challenge would be adjudicated unsuccessful and a personal foul would be rated in Irvingciting the illegal contact that knocked the ball out of McDaniels’ hands. Minnesota would retain possession or shoot free throws if the Timberwolves were in the bonus.
Irving’s foul would be considered close to the out-of-bounds violation under review.
Three factors will be considered in determining whether a prior unreported foul is close to an out-of-bounds violation, the statement said:
While this implementation means replay reviews could take longer and slow down a game, it also means the NBA is taking more measures, in hopes of eliminating missed fouls in key moments of games.
The change will take effect starting with the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season, which will begin with the preseason on Oct. 4 and the regular season on Oct. 22.
The NBA’s Competition Committee unanimously recommended the rule change to the NBA Board of Governors. The Competition Committee is comprised of players, NBPA representatives, coaches, governors, basketball team and league executives and referees.