The NBA today announced new elements and enhancements to existing policies and procedures in Basketball Operations, Referee Operations and other areas for the resumption of the 2019-20 season, including a wider border around the sidelines, a revised setup for team benches and a new covering on officials\u2019 whistles.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew elements implemented for the season restart reflect a collaboration among the league, players, coaches, referees and team staff, underscore a willingness by all parties to adapt to a challenging environment, and reinforce our commitment to the health and safety of everyone involved,\u201d said NBA President, League Operations Byron Spruell.<\/p>\n
The new elements and enhancements include:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Sideline Border:<\/strong>\u00a0To assist with perception and visibility on the court and adjust for not having courtside fans to help define the boundaries, the border around the court has been widened to 8 inches from 2 inches.\u00a0 During a throw-in from out of bounds, the thrower-in may continue to step on the line but may not touch the floor over the line until the ball is released.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Team Benches:\u00a0<\/strong>Team benches consist of multiple rows of seats (with appropriate distance between each seat) and are divided into three sections: players; coaches and team staff; and unassigned seats.\u00a0 The 17-seat players section is divided into three rows, with each player assigned a seat by his team.\u00a0 The 12-seat coaches and team staff section, slightly separated from the players section, is divided into three rows of four seats, with each person assigned a seat by his or her team.\u00a0 The unassigned seats section is located near the baseline and reserved only for temporary use to enable player-to-player, coach-to-player or trainer\/physician-to-player communication during the game.\u00a0 The unassigned seats are promptly cleaned and disinfected after each use.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Timeouts:\u00a0<\/strong>During any timeout or period break, players and coaches can huddle like normal except they must sit in or congregate around movable chairs separate and apart from the team benches.\u00a0 The movable chairs used during timeouts or period breaks are cleaned and disinfected after each use.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Officials\u2019 Whistles:\u00a0<\/strong>A cloth covering has been added to the referees\u2019 whistles to prevent the spread of spittle.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Replay Officials:<\/strong>\u00a0Replay officials, who make decisions on certain replay situations and facilitate the on-the-court review of others, are working on site at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida rather than at the NBA Replay Center in Secaucus, N.J.\u00a0 The NBA Replay Center will continue to conduct reviews in conjunction with the on-court officials.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Injury Reporting Procedures:<\/strong>\u00a0Five hours (local time) prior to the start time of the second game of a back-to-back (instead of 1 p.m. local time) is when teams must designate a participation status (Out, Doubtful, Questionable, Probable or Available) for each player on their roster and identify a specific injury, illness or potential instance of a healthy player resting that may affect any player\u2019s participation in the game.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Baseline Positioning:<\/strong>\u00a0Broadcast camera operators, photographers or videographers may not be positioned on the hardwood and instead must shoot away from the floor.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Scorer\u2019s Table:<\/strong>\u00a0The scorer\u2019s table is surrounded by plexiglass.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Coach\u2019s Attire:<\/strong>\u00a0Head coaches and assistant coaches are permitted to wear polo shirts instead of business attire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New covering on referees’ whistles, widening of courtside border among changes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[399],"tags":[604,13941],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-163035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-nba-bubble"],"yoast_head":"\n