Photo by photon_de via Flickr
Javie, rated as one of the league’s top officials during the past 15 years, is retiring because of an arthritic right knee… The injury forced him to miss the end of the 2009-2010 season, but he returned last fall with the hope of making it to the 25-year mark as an NBA referee.
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Bob Delaney, who also reached the 25-year milestone last season, is retiring as well, a decision he announced at the start of last season.
Via “Steve Javie retiring as NBA referee” by Ric Bucher
As much as complaints are lodged against NBA refs, the men and woman who regulate the hardwood jungle really do a good job, all things considered. The pace and flow of NBA games is insanely fast. What at first glance may appear to be a charge, flop or tipped ball off one man’s fingertips often turns out to be incorrect and we quickly rail against the ref’s blind eye. Of course, we come to this conclusion many times only after having seen a replay of the controversial call umpteen times on TV.
Referees don’t have that luxury. It’s quick as a flash and until recently, they had no recourse to replay. Something happens and in a split second the ref must judge who’s the offender and assess the penalty. Anything that a human is asked to judge in snapshot fashion is bound to be rife with errors.
With that in mind, 50 combined years of NBA refereeing are turning in their whistles. Bob DeLaney and Steve Javie are calling it quits after a quarter-century a piece of maintaining law & order on the mean parquets of the NBA. And they were two of the best. Javie’s only true fault was that he was kind of quick to shoot first and ask questions later (a.k.a. give out technicals). For Bob DeLany there was no such fault, maybe because he knew what real irritation was from his law enforcement days. To ply a trade so well for 25 years is a noble accomplishment and a lot has changed in those 25 years…
When these two men entered the NBA, Larry Bird was in the midst of winning three straight MVP awards. Patrick Ewing was Rookie of the Year. The previous year’s ROY, Michael Jordan, was sidelined most of the year with a foot injury, but came back in time for the playoffs to hang 63 points on Bird’s Celtics. The Heat, Magic, Timberwolves, Raptors, Grizzlies, Hornets and Bobcats were but shimmers on the horizon.
The Kings had just moved from Kansas City to Sacramento. Washington’s basketball team was still speeding up the court as the Bullets. Stockton and Malone were just beginning their pick and roll machine. But it was another promising dynamic duo, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, that captured the NBA’s attention as they dethroned the L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference.
Elsewhere, the first PC virus was unleashed. The Mir Space Station was launched beginning its reign of space debris terror. Apartheid was still in South Africa and the USSR spanned Eurasia, although both would not be around for much longer. Lady Gaga, Rafa Nadal and Gerald Green were welcomed into the world. Georgia O’Keefe, Perry Ellis, and Hank Greenberg all departed it.
And so the big wheel keeps on turning. Javie and DeLaney are leaving. Two new referees will step in to the void. However, they will merely replace the role not the unique spirit in how it was handled. If you haven’t do so before, properly consider the work that these men have done. Complain less about errant calls, or at least understand that when you screw up at least thousands at minimum and million at most aren’t watching. Send them a fruit basket. Or send them a cupcake. Most of all, just appreciate.
