Veteran NBA referee Dick Bavetta has announced his retirement after 39 years of service in the NBA. Bavetta began his career on December 2nd, 1975 at Madison Square Garden. He is one of the most respected officials in NBA history. Bavetta retired without ever missing an assigned game. He officiated 2,635 consecutive games during his career.
Bavetta started out officiating high school games in New York City. He has also had the pleasure of calling games in Rucker Park. Bavetta is a member of the New York City basketball Hall-of-Fame. He always brought a little swagger to the officiating crew.
Due to Bavetta's ties to New York, players often accused him of calling games in the Knicks favor. Those accusations turned out to be nothing more than hoopla.
Bavetta has called three all-star games, the 1992 Summer Olympics , 270 playoff games and 27 NBA finals games. Bavetta has forgotten more about basketball than most people will ever learn. When he began his tenure in the NBA Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in his seventh professional season. Rick Barry and the Golden State Warriors were defending NBA champions.
Bavetta holds a special place in the NBA's history book. The role of an official is extremely difficult. These men often do not get the respect they deserve. The games would mean nothing without excellent officiating. That's exactly what Bavetta brought to work every day for 39 years.
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