Official (basketball)

In basketball, an official (also known as a Referee) is a person who has the responsibility to enforce the rules and maintain the order of the game. The title of official also applies to the scorers and timekeepers, as well as other personnel that have an active task in maintaining the game. Basketball is regarded as among the most difficult sports to officiate due to the fast speed of play, the complexity of rules that must be followed, the unique case-specific interpretations of rules, and the instantaneous judgement required.

Officials are usually referred to as referees; however, generally there is one lead referee and one or two umpires, depending on whether there is a two- or three-person crew. In the NBA, the lead official is called the crew chief and the other two officials are "referees". In FIBA-sanctioned play, two-man crews consist of a referee and an umpire, and three-man crews contain a referee and two umpires. Regardless, both classes of officials have equal rights to control almost all aspects of the game. In most cases, the lead official (in FIBA, the referee) performs the jump ball to begin the contest, though NFHS and NCAA recently have allowed the referee to designate which official (referee or umpire) shall perform the jump ball.

In American high school and college basketball, the officials generally wear black and white striped shirts with black side panels (as pictured above), black pants and black shoes. Some state high school association allow officials to wear grey shirts with black pin strips instead of the black and white striped shirts. NBA officials wear grey shirts with black slacks and black shoes. The NBA shirt is grey with black colored shoulders and sleeves, and the NBA logo above the breast. The WNBA referee shirt is similar to the NBA referee shirt, except that its shoulder and sleeve colors are orange and the WNBA logo takes the place of the NBA logo. FIBA officials wear a grey (torso) and black (sleeves) official referee shirt, black trousers, black socks and black shoes. Officials in competitions organized by Euroleague Basketball (company)—the Euroleague and Eurocup—wear an orange referee shirt. Officials in the Israel Basketball Association generally wear the Euroleague's orange uniform shirt, but on occasion don a royal blue referee shirt for contests between two Israeli teams. Most officials' slacks are currently belt-less, while most officials' shirts are collar-less, V-neck shirts.

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