For many years, the NFL has allowed coaches to challenge a call made on the field during a game. When the league first gave coaches the ability to do so in 1999, it allowed the coach of each team two challenges per game. In 2004, a rule was instituted to give a coach a third challenge if he was successful in his first two challenges.
The NBA didn’t follow suit until the 2019-20 season, and it only allowed coaches to challenge one call per game. Starting this season, coaches have been awarded a second challenge if their first one was a success.
However, even if that second challenge is successful, that team will still lose the timeout it had to call in order to make the second challenge in the first place. This rule quirk hurt the Los Angeles Lakers in their final playoff game this year against the Denver Nuggets, as it left them with no timeouts after Jamal Murray hit the shot that broke a 106-all tie with 3.6 seconds left.
LeBron James wants the league to change that rule.
Have to change that challenge rule! No way you have 2 successful challenges and can’t anymore for the rest of the game! Makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 23, 2024
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has shown himself to be more open to tweaking rules than his predecessor David Stern. But it remains to be seen if the league’s competition committee will actually take action when it comes to the rules regarding coach’s challenges.
