David Stern envisions NFL-style replay
PHILADELPHIA -- After the first
weekend of the playoffs included several officiating issues, NBA
commissioner David Stern said he envisions the league going to an
NFL-style replay system to reduce controversies in the future.
With
several long-term issues more pressing -- including new collective
bargaining agreements with both the players and the referees unions --
Stern doesn't think replay expansion will be in place by next season.
But Stern thinks the technology, and perhaps even the challenge flags,
are coming.
"Eventually we have to get to something where you may have someone sitting at the desk," Stern said before the Miami Heat played the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3 of their first-round series.
"Rather than having a Talmudic discussion
between the referees [on replays] you might have one person whose job it
is to keep the earphones on and always watch. And you might let a coach
drop the flag in the last two minutes."
Last weekend there were
several hotly debated calls in the final minute of games that put a
spotlight on the officiating. The league issued a statement that
officials in Game 1 of the Denver Nuggets-Oklahoma City Thunder series missed a key offensive goaltending call.
"The
capturing of the picture is so precise that you now know going through
the game what the call should've been," Stern said. "Do we stop the game
every time? I don't think so, but there are going to be improvements
made over the course of time that are going to eliminate a lot of the
controversy."
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