Ken Berger

PHOENIX – No more baskets with six men on the court. The NBA is ready to adopt do-overs.

The NBA’s Rules and Competition Committee met Friday and approved a rule change that would disallow baskets if it was determined after the play that the team scoring the basket had six men on the court, CBSSports.com has learned. The NBA Board of Governors will vote on the recommendation next week, and if approved by owners, the rule will be implemented for the rest of this season.

The change was brought to the attention of the committee – comprised of current and former general managers, coaches, and players – in response to a game Dec. 30 in which Portland scored a basket with six men on the court against Boston. Under the old rule, the referees were permitted to assess a technical foul, but couldn’t disallow the basket. The technical foul will still be assessed, but any points scored while the extra man was on the court will be taken off the scoreboard.

“In that example, the rule will allow Boston to nullify the basket,” said Joel Litvin, the NBA’s president of league and basketball operations. “In effect, a do-over.”

The committee also debated whether it should change the goaltending rule to make it consistent with FIBA’s rule for international competition, in which the ball is in play and may be swatted, rebounded, or dunked once it touches the rim. In the NBA, players cannot touch the ball until it comes off the rim on its own. The matter was discussed, with some members favoring a change because it would make for exciting play and eliminate extremely difficult basket interference calls for officials. But there was no consensus, as committee members opposing it worried that it would be too drastic a change and might reduce scoring.

“It just didn’t seem like something that people were real enthusiastic about changing since the consensus in the entire room was that the game looks pretty good right now,” Litvin said.

Jerry Colangelo, managing director of gold medal-winning USA Basketball, was in favor of adopting FIBA’s goaltending and basket interference rules because NBA players competing internationally wouldn’t have to adjust to the vastly different rule on a reaction play that happens quickly in games.

“The FIBA rule, the live ball on the rim, that’s an exciting play,” said Colangelo, a former head of the rules and competition committee. “And I think it would be a great addition to the NBA.”

The committee discussed instant replay, and members generally like how it’s being used to determine whether a quarter-ending shot is a 2-pointer or 3-pointer. In addition to the general state of scoring, tempo, and officiating, the committee also decided to take no action on flopping – which means the Cavs’ Anderson Varejao can rest easy. Some members expressed concern about the tactic being used as a way to fool officials, whose job is difficult enough without players falling down deliberately to draw a whistle. But it was determined that more discussion is required before any changes can be proposed to the Board of Governors.