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."