The NBA is the only one of the four major sports leagues in America to not have some sort of coach’s challenge system in place, but that could apparently change in the near future.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe reports that the topic of coach’s challenges was discussed at the NBA’s GM meetings on Tuesday, and it seems like most around the league are in favor of some sort of challenge system. While some people at the meeting would prefer to only give coaches the ability to challenge “black-and-white rulings” like goaltending and out-of-bounds plays, others believe foul calls should become challengeable.
According to Lowe, the NBA would be more likely to allow a system that does not involve challenging fouls, as that would lead to too many questions about whether non-calls can be challenged. It would also expose some bad calls in a league that is already heavily criticized for its officiating. There are also concerns about how challenges would impact timeouts and whether or not teams without a timeout left would be able to challenge a play.
Like every year, questionable foul calls have been a huge part of the story in the NBA playoffs. That isn’t going to change even if coaches are allowed to challenge a foul call or two, so it would not be a surprise if the league opts against that.
