Recently while watching an NBA game I noticed something for the first time. Two of the three officials were not using a lanyard or a smitty. Has anyone heard of or tried this and what is the purpose?

Using a hand strap is being used more and more by Basketball Officials in my Association. It's so that you can talk players out of violations by not having the whistle in your mouth.

I have done this on occasion. It is only when it is a very big game, and my partner is wet behind the ears. The reason that I f=do it, is to slow down. Everytime that I have a call, I have to tuck the whistle into my sansabelt pants and make the call, then get the whislte out again and go. I don't reccommend this practice to everyone, there might be times when you lose your whistle to the floor.