The NBA instituted the ability for coaches to challenge various calls for the 2019-20 season in July. Now, in the preseason, coaches such as Terry Stotts and Mike D’Antoni have used it.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr became another coach to challenge a call Thursday during the Warriors’ preseason win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. During the second quarter, Kerr challenged an initial call that said the ball went out of bounds off a Warriors player.
The call was overturned, but after the game Kerr spoke of how he does not favor the NBA’s new challenge rule.
“I don’t like the rule,” Kerr said, per ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “I don’t like replay at all. I think replay should be limited to the buzzer-beater at the end of every quarter if you want to review them, a buzzer-beater, that’s fine. I don’t like the review. They send us the rules and we’ve watched the videotape, so it seemed like something I might as well try just to feel it [out]. But you have to call a timeout in order to challenge, so it seems like what you have to do is make sure you’re not wasting a timeout on a play that’s not worth challenging.”
Kerr added that since a coach must take a timeout when using the challenge, then it would be ideal to use it if there’s a timeout on the way or a team is struggling against an opponent on a run.
With the new rule, each team is allotted one challenge a game. Plays such as out-of-bounds calls, personal fouls, goaltending and basket interference can be challenged.
But in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, plays such as out-of-bounds calls or goaltending will be automatically reviewed and won’t be able to be challenged.
The Warriors will play their third preseason game on the road Monday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
