NBA officials do, for the most part, a very good job. However, there are plenty of examples of when they make mistakes (go look at any last two minute report), and the NBA plans on doing what they can to make improvements.
According to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt, the NBA will announce four new initiatives on Thursday aimed at making referees better for the 2017-18 season. The new measures come from new President of League Operations Byron Spruell, who has spent his first nine months on the job evaluating and assessing what needs to happen to make the NBA better. One conclusion he’s reached is that an improvement in officiating is imperative.
The four key initiatives, as reported by Zillgitt, are as follows:
1. An “Officiating Advisory Council” will be created, which will include a mix of former players, coaches, referees and others that will “help determine the future of officiating.” The council will be made up of Doug Collins (ex-player and coach), Gen. Martin E. Dempsey (chairman of USA Basketball), Steve Javie (ex-ref), Kenny Smith (ex-player) and Arne Duncan (ex-U.S. Secretary of Education).
2. The NBA will add to its number of officials, increasing the total from 63 to 78-79 (a 25 percent increase) in three years, with the goal of having 69 (a 10 percent increase) by next year. The NBA will also be looking at possibly adding international referees as part of this initiative.
3. Increased training for referees, including the use of virtual reality.
4. A new referee scheduling system that will cut down on back-to-backs and allow crews to work consecutive games together.
What the advisory council will do is unknown, but the other three initiatives all seem like sensible options to try and help the quality of officiating. The addition of more officials to the pool and new scheduling system will work hand-in-hand in helping to eliminate some fatigue. Virtual reality training is something that NBA teams are beginning to use and find success with, and it’s good to see the NBA being progressive in its efforts to use the most advanced technology to improve the officiating product.
There are other initiatives that will be put in place as well, like a new data tracking system that will evaluate the accuracy of referees by looking at hundreds of plays each game. There will also be a concerted effort to improve the communication protocols between refs, players and coaches, which might help players understand better what leads them to receiving technical fouls.
Few things in the NBA frustrate fans more than officiating errors and this won’t eliminate those completely, but hopefully steady improvement will help cut back on the mistakes that drive fans crazy and make them cry out that the league is out to get their team.
