Stealing may be a harsh word. Maybe this is a situation where imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Either way, the NBA is adopting coaching challenges, much like the NFL.
Will there really be flags? In the NBA Summer League, they use a big button/buzzer. It kind of looks like one of those Easy Buttons from Staples commercials. It would be really weird to see an NBA coach throw a flag out onto the court like coaches do.
For everyone complaining about replay, the challenges are useless under two minutes in the game because that gets reviewed anyway. All the NBA is trying to do is to make sure things get called correctly — much like what the NFL tries to do with its replay rules.
Both the NFL and NBA only have a few problems when it comes to reviews and those issues are simple. One is what is and what is not reviewable. The problem for the NFL was that pass interference that was missed in the NFC championship game. Now that play is reviewable. There will be some calls that simply won’t be reviewable in NBA games as well. The second is making sure the rules reflect what people see in real-time. Whatever the NBA version of the catch rule might be, the league would be wise to avoid it. The NFL didn’t really fix the issue — if it’s even fixed — until recently.
Reviews aren’t going away any time soon. They are a great chance for a league to sell sponsorships and ad space. They also help the officials make the right call. It’s the best of both worlds.
