Replay Could Be on Way Soon

SACRAMENTO — Instant replay is coming to the NBA--perhaps as soon as next season.

“We’ve been talking about it for the last month,” Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik said during a visit with Commissioner David Stern to Arco Arena for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals between the Lakers and the Sacramento Kings.

The issue also had been raised Monday by King Coach Rick Adelman after NBC’s replays clearly showed Samaki Walker’s buzzer-beater Sunday at halftime was still in his hands when the clock showed 0.0 in the background.

Adelman had no complaints about Robert Horry’s winning three-pointer at game’s end, but replays showed the ball was out of Horry’s hands at the final buzzer.

Adelman made the point that Horry’s shot meant nothing if Walker’s had been correctly disallowed. And if NBC could show its viewers a frame-by-frame sequence of Walker’s shot, then why shouldn’t the game referees be allowed to take a peek if it meant getting the correct ruling?

“There will be a meeting with the competition committee next week and it’s on the agenda,” Granik said. “There are a lot of complications that have to be worked out. You realize it’s not so simple to look at just whether the shot got off on time or not, but whether the player’s foot was on the line and the referees were ready to award a three[-point basket] and the game could go into overtime depending on whether it’s a two or a three. There are a lot of things that have to be resolved.

“We will have a plan in effect for next season and it will be up to the competition committee and the owners.”

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The Kings’ inability to rebound cost them in Game 4, according to Sacramento power forward Chris Webber. The Lakers had a 56-42 rebounding edge Sunday, including 25-8 on the offensive end.

“Rebounding was our most glaring weakness,” Webber said. “We have to hit the boards. Me, Vlade [Divac] and Scot [Pollard] have to get to the boards. The little guys can help too, but it’s up to the big guys to get it done.”

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Webber put the Kings’ Game 4 loss into the perspective that only a die-hard fan could understand.

“I wanted somebody in Sacramento crying [Sunday] like I was crying when Isiah [Thomas] passed the ball to the Celtics,” Webber said, referring to Larry Bird’s steal of Thomas’ inbounds pass that led to Dennis Johnson’s layup that beat Webber’s beloved Detroit Pistons in the 1987 Eastern Conference finals.

Elliott Teaford