NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2019 – Seventy referees will make up the NBA officiating staff for the 2019-20 season.  Below are some numbers and tidbits pertaining to this season’s NBA officials.

On The Court

• 3,690 – The 70 NBA officials will be called on to fill 3,690 referee assignments during the regular season.

 

• 34 – Ken Mauer is entering his 34^th season as an NBA referee, the most for any current official.

 

• 80 – 56 of the 70 referees (80%) have worked in the NBA G League.

 

• 41/28 – 41 of the 70 referees (59%) have 10 or more years of officiating experience, while 28 of the 70 (40%) have 15 or more years of officiating experience.

 

• 34 – 24 of the 70 referees (34%) have WNBA officiating experience.

 

Off The Court

• 75,000 – NBA officials who cover 60 or more games during the regular season will fly approximately 75,000 miles.

 

• 1989 – Joe Borgia, Senior Vice President, Referee Operations, was part of the officiating crew for the longest modern-day game when the Seattle SuperSonics and the Milwaukee Bucks went to five overtimes on Nov. 9, 1989.  He also worked the highest-scoring game in history (Detroit Pistons 186, Denver Nuggets 184) on Dec. 13, 1983.

 

• 1977 – Ken Mauer earned 1977 All-Big Ten honors for the University of Minnesota’s baseball team, helping lead the Golden Gophers to the College World Series alongside Baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.

 

• 36 – Brent Barnaky, who wears No. 36, served as a civil trial lawyer before becoming an NBA official.

 

• 25 – Monty McCutchen, Vice President, Head of Referee Development and Training, spent 25 years as an NBA referee.

 

• 20 – George Toliver, Associate Vice President, Referee Operations, is the father of three-time WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA champion Kristi Toliver, who wears No. 20 for the Washington Mystics.

 

• 19 – Jason Phillips is the new Replay Center Operations Principal after spending 19 years as an NBA official.

 

• 13 – Referee Jacyn Goble previously worked for 13 years as a police officer for the Miami-Dade Police Department.

 

• 12 – Referee Leroy Richardson spent 12 years in the United States Navy, serving as a surface warfare specialist and underwater sea surveillance specialist.  Other officials who have served in the U.S. military include Matt Boland (Connecticut National Guard) and Rodney Mott (U.S. Navy).

 

• 9 – The NBA features nine officials who attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities:
  • Bennie Adams (Southern University)
  • Tony Brown (Clark Atlanta University)
  • Sean Corbin (Coppin State University)
  • Courtney Kirkland (Southern University)
  • Karl Lane (Philander Smith University)
  • Eric Lewis (Bethune Cookman University)
  • Matt Myers (Hampton University)
  • CJ Washington (Southern University)
  • Tom Washington (Norfolk State University)

 

• 8 – Referee Haywoode Workman played eight seasons in the NBA.

 

• 6 – Referee Leon Wood played six seasons in the NBA.

 

• 4 – Four referees were born outside of the U.S.: Marat Kogut (Kiev, Ukraine), Gediminas Petraitis (Kaunas, Lithuania), Evan Scott (Taejon, South Korea) and Mousa Dagher (Homs, Syria).

 

• 3 to 4 – An NBA official runs an average of 3 to 4 miles during a game.

 

• 3 – Referee Development Performance Advisor Joe Crawford, who was an NBA referee for 39 years, is one of three members of his family to serve as an official.  His late father, Shag, and his brother, Jerry, were both longtime Major League Baseball umpires.

 

• 3 – This year’s officiating staff features three second-generation NBA referees: James Capers (James Capers, Sr.), JB DeRosa (Joe DeRosa) and Brian Forte (Joe Forte).