Jeff Zillgitt

USA TODAY Sports

The NBA will allow teams to use hard-wired connections from the bench to review and cut video for immediate access, transfer video between bench personnel and the locker rooms and access data rather than have that info delivered from the video room to the bench.

The league informed teams of this measure in a memo sent on Thursday.

“This enhanced file sharing ability will enable coaches, players, athletic trainers and medical staff to make more informed decisions in real time,” NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe wrote in the memo.

Since 2012-13, the league has allowed team to access video and data from the bench, but it had to delivered to the bench and then uploaded. Now, each team will have a separate and secure hard-wired connection to access video and data.

This streamlines the process for quicker access.

NBA hopes new replay protocol speeds up play

“This is a way more efficient way of doing this. Instead of having somebody run it out, it’s available right there in almost real-time,” VanDeWeghe told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s just the next natural step. We have the technology to do it. Teams are excited about it. They make these type of suggestions. We announced it at the coaches’ meeting. They were all in favor of it, and I think it will be great for our players.”

Here’s an example of how it might work: Say the Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling offensively against the Toronto Raptors. During a timeout, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue could show players how the Raptors are defending certain plays without waiting for a video person to deliver those clips from the video room.

It could also alter the role of the video coordinator. Instead of spending time in the video room during the game, that person could be behind the bench, working video magic: cutting plays, accessing specific plays from current and previous games and producing those clips by the time a player comes to the bench or the next timeout.

This also gives team doctors and medical personnel the ability to review potential injuries immediately on a laptop or tablet.

The NBA also put protocol in place if one team’s network isn’t working. The team’s coach will notify referees at the next timeout. The refs will notify the other team and the scorer’s table and instruct the other team to disconnect its network until the issue is resolved. Once the issue is resolved, both teams can resume using the hard-wired network. Failure to comply will subject the team or individual to “appropriate action by the League Office.”

The league also reminded teams that certain uses of technology remain prohibited.

“Team personnel seated on a team’s bench (or in the second row of seats behind the bench) are prohibited from communicating in any way (including, but not limited to, by the use of cellular phones, smartphones, Blackberry devices, PDAs, laptop computers, or walkie-talkies) concerning the game in progress with any other individual. Team communications to and from the locker room must be via in-person interaction,” the memo read.