NBA turns to centralized replay review next season

The NBA plans to institute centralized video review next season to monitor in-game replays.

New commissioner Adam Silver wants to streamline the process to make the process more efficient and avoid delays on the court.

The system would be similar to how the NHL currently handles replay reviews. In the NHL, the on-ice officials communicate with a central command center in Toronto to assist with rulings in question during games.

“What we’re in the process of doing is we’re going to create a central location where we’ll have people there who will be watching every game,” NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn said Friday. “When the referees go over to the side, in many instances the (central replay center) will already know what happened and they’ll be able to tell the referee, which will hopefully take less time.”

The NBA is still in the process of working out the logistics.

“On the line calls, like whether it’s a 3-pointer or 2-pointer, or in many occasions they’ll be able to tell the referee the ball was definitely (out of bounds), whatever team,” Thorn said. “That should help.”