NBA plans to keep stats on referees

NEW YorK

The NBA will start keeping stats on officials, too. The league plans to hire more officials, plus change the way they are scheduled and evaluated.

The NBA will launch an Officiating Advisory Council, among a number of initiatives announced Thursday following a six-month review of the officiating program conducted by Byron Spruell, the president of league operations.

Spruell said after completing negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement, Commissioner Adam Silver’s next priority was the officiating program. Spruell, while praising the refs’ performance, said the NBA has already expanded the data it reviews and another step is “bringing in more talent to this demanding profession.”

“As I say, they do a good job but how do we continue to improve it? Evaluate it with a very comprehensive data system that allows us to look at accuracy of their calls, errors in a game,” Spruell said. “And while that can be sensitive to some extent for our officials, it’s still just ultimately going to make the current pool of 64 officials better and better as we evaluate their talent day to day, game to game, play to play.”

The current staff of 64 will grow to at least 70 next season and the league plans to increase it by 25 per cent over the next three years. Spruell said the league will consider promotions from the NBA Development League and NCAA referees, former players and referees working internationally.

“Twenty-five per cent of our players now are international or not born in the U.S., so why shouldn’t we try to match some of that in terms of talent coming from international flavour into the ref population, as well?” Spruell said.

A larger staff would allow the league to have what Spruell called “game administrators,” who would sit courtside and communicate between the game officials and the Replay Center. And it would have more refs in place if the league ever decides to have more than the current three-person crew calling games.