NBA Restructures Officiating Department

[MavsFanFinley]

NBA restructures officiating department

July 15, 2003

NEW YORK (Ticker) - NBA referees will be under even closer scrutiny next season - from their own office.

The NBA on Wednesday announced a restructuring of the officiating department, breaking it into three distinct areas and narrowing the focus of each.

It marks the second straight summer in which the department has undergone a dramatic change. Last year, NBA owners approved the use of instant replay for last-second shots and fouls at the end of periods.

The announcement was made by NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, who said all three positions will report to NBA senior vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson.

"The recruiting, training, evaluation and observation of our officials has become such a vast and complex effort that it now makes sense to have each of the major functions get the full attention of a senior manager," Jackson said.

Previously, the duties of the department were overseen by NBA director of officiating Ed T. Rush, who held the position for the last five seasons. Rush has been appointed director of officiating programs and will be responsible for recruitment, training and career development of the officiating in the NBA, WNBA and NBDL.

Long-time referee Ronnie Nunn has been named director of officials. Nunn will handle the daily management of the referee staff, including instruction of the officials on the interpretation and application of the rules.

In an interoffice move, Paul Brazeau will become director of officiating performance analysis and will monitor the daily performance of NBA referees. Brazeau will oversee a staff of observers who critique the performance of officials in person and review all referee calls on videotape.

All three men have vast basketball experience.

As a referee, Rush worked nearly 2,000 regular season games and 247 playoff games in 31 years before replacing Darell Garretson as director of officiating in 1998.

Nunn worked 18 seasons as a referee, calling over 1,100 regular season games and 73 playoff games.

Brazeau spent 10 years as an assistant coach with Ohio State and Boston College before becoming coach at Hartford in 1993. He joined the NBA as director of basketball operations in 2001.

"We are fortunate to have three top-level basketball people who can share these substantial responsibilities," Jackson said.