For the player, see Joe Crawford (basketball).

Joseph "Joey" Crawford (born August 30 1951 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania^[1]) is a professional basketball referee in the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 1977 and wears the uniform number 17. Crawford is considered one of the premier officials in the NBA and has developed a reputation for assessing technical fouls against players and coaches^[2][3]. As of the 2006-07 NBA season, Crawford has worked more playoff (266) and NBA Finals games (38) than any other active referee in the league<ref name="Arehart" /> and has appeared in the Finals every year between 1986 and 2007. In addition to playoff games, Crawford has officiated the NBA All-Star Game in 1986, 1992 and 2000, as well as the 1993 McDonald's Championship in Munich, Germany.

Personal life

Joe's father, Shag Crawford, was a Major League Baseball umpire in the National League from 1956 to 1975 and his brother, Jerry, is a current major league umpire<ref name="NBRA" /><ref name="Arehart" /><ref name="Referee" />. Crawford currently resides in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.<ref name="NBRA" /> He is married and has three children.^[4]

Early career

Crawford officiated high school games in Pennsylvania for eight years from 1970 to 1977 and also the Eastern Basketball Association (later the Continental Basketball Association, or CBA) in 1974 and 1977. Following his work in the CBA, Crawford was hired by the NBA in 1977 at the age of 25. Outside of officiating, Crawford also worked as a United States Postal Service mail carrier from 1972 to 1975.

NBA referee career

Airline ticket income investigation

In 1998, Crawford was one of 8 NBA referees charged with filing false income tax returns. An Internal Revenue Service investigation was the result of cash being pocketed by referees when airline tickets provided by the league were downgraded. At the conclusion of a four year investigation, Crawford pleaded guilty on July 1, 1998^[5] for falsely stating income of $82,500 from 1991 to 1993^[6] and resigned from the NBA effective immediately. He would be reinstated by NBA commissioner David Stern in 1999 and did not miss a game due to a players' lockout to start the 1998-99 NBA season^[7].

2003 NBA Playoffs

During Game 2 of the Western Conference finals of the 2003 NBA playoffs, Crawford assessed four technical fouls in the first 10 minutes, 11 seconds of the game, including two technical fouls and an ejection of Don Nelson, then head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, for not returning to his team's bench after disputing a foul called against his team. Later in the game, he ejected Nelson's assistant coach, Del Harris<ref name="Arehart" /><ref name="ESPN" />.

Games officiated milestone

Crawford officiated in his 2,000th NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers on November 11 2005. He was the fifth NBA referee in history to reach such a milestone, joining Jake O'Donnell, Dick Bavetta, Earl Strom, and Tommy Nunez<ref name="NBA" />.

Tim Duncan altercation

On April 15, 2007, Crawford ejected San Antonio Spurs superstar Tim Duncan for supposedly laughing at Crawford from his seat on the bench during a game against the Dallas Mavericks. Duncan also suppopsedly insulted Crawford with an expletive<ref name="ESPN" />. Duncan alleges that Crawford challenged him to a fight on the court in which Crawford asked Duncan, "Do you want to fight?"^[8] On April 17, Crawford was suspended for the remainder of the 2006-07 NBA season and the 2007 NBA Playoffs as a result of this altercation, ending his 21 consecutive Finals appearances. The league also fined Duncan $25,000 for verbal abuse of an official and warned that a repeat incident in the future would result in an ejection. Commissioner David Stern said Crawford's actions "failed to meet the standards of professionalism and game management we expect of NBA referees."<ref name="ESPN" /> Crawford met with league officials on July 30, 2007 to discuss his future in the NBA, but no resolution was reached between the two parties.^[9] On September 17, the NBA announced Crawford's reinstatement. Commissioner Stern met with Crawford and stated, "I am satisfied that Joey understands the standards of game management and professionalism the NBA expects from him and that he will be able to conduct himself in accordance with those standards." ^[10]

References

External links

• National Basketball Referees Association