The NBA and Its New Replay Problem

          The first two rounds of the NBA postseason so far have been some of the most exciting and memorable playoff games in recent memory. The first round saw five of its eight matchups go to seven games, eight games go to overtime, and a series clinching three pointer at the buzzer by last year's Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard. However, the last two nights have been marred by an replay problem the NBA needs to address in the offseason that involves the power of the officials to review out of bounds plays with two minutes or less left in the 4th quarter and all of overtime.

Clippers/Thunder Game 5

On Tuesday night, with 13 seconds left in the game and the Los Angeles Clippers leading the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-102, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook stole the ball from Clippers guard Chris Paul. The ball wound up in Thunder guard Reggie Jackson's hands with an opportunity to tie the game. Jackson went up for the shot and Clippers forward Matt Barnes went for the ball. The ball sailed out of bounds on the baseline and the referees ruled it Thunder ball with 11 seconds left. Since it was a close play, the refs decide to review it to make sure the possession ruling was correct. Upon replay, we saw Barnes slap Jackson's arm, causing Jackson to lose control of the ball before it went out of bounds. However, under NBA rules fouls are not reviewable so when the referees went to the monitor, they could only make a decision based on who touched the ball last, not whether or not there was a foul committed. Although the replay clearly showed Jackson touching the ball last, the referees upheld the call on the floor and it remained Thunder basketball. On the next play Paul fouled Westbrook on a three point attempt, Westbrook hit all three free throws, and the Thunder went on to win the game 105-104 to take a 3-2 series lead.

Nets/Heat Game 5

On the next night, the Brooklyn Nets are facing elimination against the defending champion Miami Heat. The Heat is ahead 96-94 with less than 10 seconds to play and Nets forward Paul Pierce has the ball on the left sideline of his offensive end when Heat forward LeBron James, defending the play, causes the ball to go out of bounds. The referees rule it Brooklyn ball but decide to go to the replay monitor to make sure. Once again, what we saw during the replay was a defender, this time James, whacking the arm of the ball handler, Pierce, which leads to the ball going out. Replay clearly showed a foul on James, which was not called during the game and therefore cannot be reviewed, but Pierce clearly was the last one to touch the ball before it went out of bounds. However, once again the refs upheld their call on the floor and gave the ball the Nets who, unlike the Thunder, could not capitalize on their gift of a possession and wound up losing the game and the series.

Problem on the Rise

In both cases, the defender did not even touch the ball, but rather slapped the offensive player's arm, which led to the offensive player being the last one to touch the ball before it went out. However, both times the referees upheld their calls on the floor, possession stayed with the offensive team, and the refs tried to make up for the non-foul call they clearly missed.

This is a dangerous precedent being set in the NBA. Although I do not believe the solution is to allow referees to review a foul (or non-foul) call, when viewing instant replay the officials need to stick to what is written in the rules. Passively awarding the ball to the wrong team because of a failure to call a foul does not solve any problems and leads the review process down a dark and dangerous road. What we have to understand is that referee subjectivity is part of the game; it is part of every sport. The refs are not going to get every foul call right, just like umpires are not going to get every ball/strike call right, but they are where they are because they are the best at reducing the number of missed calls.

The NBA's rulebook clearly states on out of bounce calls that "the ball is caused to go out-of-bounds by the last player to touch it before it goes out..." Jackson was the last one to touch it, Pierce was the last one to touch it, and officials got both calls wrong.

In addition, the section on reviewable out of bounds plays says officials can go to the monitor in order to "identify the player who caused the ball to become out-of-bounds." Nowhere does it say that officials can use replay to give possession to a team who should have been awarded a foul.

Side Note: The replay rule also says that before officials order a replay, "officials must first make a call on the floor (favoring one team or jump ball)..." I always thought the ref had to award possession to one of the teams before going to the replay monitor. If a referee is unsure about who touched a ball last, why doesn't he or she call for a jump ball and then review the play. If there is "clear and conclusive evidence," as NBA President of Basketball Operations says there needs to be in his statement after the Clippers/Thunder debacle, to make a call then the official can award possession to the team that deserves it. If there is no "clear and conclusive evidence" then the officials stick to their ruling on the court: Jump ball. If, instead, a referee is unsure and guesses as to which team should get the ball and then replays show no indisputable evidence going one way or the other, then the referee has no choice but to stick with his or her original call.

Similarity to College Football

This "replay epidemic" in the NBA reminds me of the targeting rule that the NCAA issued to protect offensive players. A defensive player flagged for a hit considered targeting would be automatically ejected and his team penalized 15 yards. The play, though, is reviewable, which means the referees can watch the replay and determine if the defensive player deserves to be ejected. If it is deemed that the player should not be ejected based on the replay then he remains in the game but the offensive team still gets to move up the field15 yards. So essentially, in reversing the ejection the officials are admitting that the play was not in fact a penalty, so the offensive team gets awarded extra yards for a clean hit.

In both leagues, teams are rewarded on behalf on the subjective mistake of officials through the use of replay. In the NBA an offensive team is awarded possession of the ball, even though a player on the team was the last to touch it before going out, because the officials missed a foul call. In college football an offensive team is awarded 15 yards because an official mistook a clean hit for an illegal one.

The NBA needs to fix this issue of indirectly changing foul calls through the use of replay. The league is now a hop, a skip, and a jump away from allowing referees to review fouls through the use of replays which will not only extend the duration of a game more than any fan cares to watch for but will eventually lead to the demise of the integrity of the game. Nobody wants to watch referees at the end of a Finals game study a replay and determine that a non-call will be reversed and a star player will be disqualified from the game by picking up his sixth foul.