Adam Silver and the NBA are trying to make league officiating as air tight and transparent as humanly possible.
The NBA has spent the last few years trying to increase their transparency with fans wherever possible. One of the ways they’ve done this is through their handling of the reffing process. The last two minute report was introduced a few years ago to show fans the results of calls that took place during the final two minutes of a game, and if calls that took place were correct. They have a Twitter account dedicated to explaining the result of replay reviews that take place throughout the night, and at this point everybody is aware of the replay review center in Secaucus, New Jersey. It’s mentioned on broadcast anytime there’s a review.
The results of this transparency have been mixed. While the NBA has been applauded for their attempts to better connect with fans, some of their efforts have been hit with criticism. The last two minute report in particular has come under heavy fire this year from teams, fans, and the referees themselves.
The NBA has somewhat acknowledged these criticisms and appear to be making efforts to address them. The NBA announced today via press release their plans to overhaul much of the refereeing process.
There’s a lot of information to take in from the press release. Some of the ideas they NBA has presented here could turn out very well in the longterm. Increasing officiating staff and trying to keep the same crews together is an excellent idea. They should keep refs rested and allow them to be used to who they’re working with. Any group that’s together for a long time naturally improves. This is true in any work environment.
The staff they put together to run the program is a good mix of former players, coaches, bureaucrats, and even has a former ref. As long as this group goes in with an open mindset and isn’t planning to blast refereeing as a whole then they should do good work in helping the game. However, the NBA really should look at adding more former refs to the staff than Javie. Nobody understands how a game is called better than the referees themselves.
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There’s a lot of positives to be taken away from this. The NBA clearly wants to make their product the best it can be and are taking steps towards avoiding controversial moments with calls. However, much of the tone in the press release feels almost antagonistic towards those same refs. It will be interesting to see how the referee association responds.