NBA passes coach's challenge for 2019-20 season

The NBA Board of Governors approved a pair of changes to the instant replay rules for the 2019-20 season on Tuesday.

A coach's challenge will be available to all bench bosses, and the NBA replay center - in addition to the on-court referees - will be given the ability to trigger instant replay, the league announced in a release, via Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

"These initiatives further strengthen our officiating program and help referees make the right call," said NBA president of league operations Byron Spruell. "Giving head coaches a voice will enhance the confidence in our replay process among teams and fans and add a new, exciting strategic element to our game.

"Enabling the NBA to trigger instant replay will improve game flow and provide real-time awareness of any adjustments to the score."

Under the new rules, coaches can challenge a personal foul charged to their team, a called out-of-bounds violation, goaltending, and basket-interference violations, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Teams get one challenge per game regardless of the outcome, and it can be used at any point during the contest, according to ESPN's Tim Bontemps. To initiate a challenge, a team must have a timeout and call one after the play. The head coach then twirls his finger toward the referees as the signal.

The challenge system has already been in use during the past two G League seasons, and it's currently being used during summer league. It will be adopted in the NBA on a one-year trial basis for the upcoming campaign.

The replay center now possesses the power to call for a further review of certain plays. Such circumstances include whether a two or three-point field goal was made, and whether the shot clock expired before a shot was made, league sources told Wojnarowski.