Originally Posted by
N.B.A.
It's now official, and here's a snippet on how he started......
The year was 1966, and Bavetta was in a stockbroker-league basketball game at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York. His team played in the first game on the schedule that night. The game ended, Bavetta grabbed a quick shower and returned to the court because his brother — a police detective — was one of the referees working the second game.
His brother’s partner never showed. So Bavetta grudgingly agreed to take his place.
And with that, what became a 48-year odyssey of blowing the whistle got underway.
"Otherwise," Bavetta said, "I probably would be a burned-out stockbroker right now."
AND he never missed a single game - 2,635 consecutive games, including 270 playoff contests and 27 NBA Finals games.
For so long, ‘I’m Dick Bavetta, an NBA referee’ has just come out. Now it’s time for ‘I’m Dick Bavetta, former NBA referee.’"
NBA: Dick Bavetta looks back on a lifetime in basketball | The Salt Lake Tribune
How I wish I had the same career as his, very fulfilling! Hats off!