<
>

Centralized replay on horizon for NBA

By next season, the NBA is planning to create and use a centralized replay center to help referees and speed up games.

"What we're in the process of doing is we're going to create a central location where we'll have people there who will be watching every game," NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn said Friday. "When the referees go over to the side, in many instances the [central replay center] will already know what happened and they'll be able to tell the referee, which will hopefully take less time."

The project is one of new commissioner Adam Silver's initiatives. The NBA would be mimicking a system the NHL started in 2011, when it created what is known as the "situation room" in Toronto where all goals from all games can be reviewed with calls communicated to the officials on the ice.

That experiment has been successful in shortening the time replays take in addition to removing some pressure from the referees on site.

The NFL is also studying the effects of creating a centralized replay center.

"It's still a work in progress for exactly how it's [going to work]," Thorn said. "On the line calls, like whether it's a 3-pointer or 2-pointer, or in many occasions they'll be able to tell the referee the ball was definitely [out of bounds], whatever team. That should help."

Over the last several years, the NBA has significantly expanded what is reviewable, especially at the ends of games. In addition to out of bounds calls and 3-pointers, officials can now review goaltending and even block/charge calls in the final two minutes and overtime.

In all, there are 14 things officials can review.

ESPN.com's Henry Abbott and Jade Hoye contributed to this report.