The NBA and WNBA are two of the world's premier sports and entertainment enterprises; a diverse group of high performing individuals delivering joy and excitement to hundreds of millions of basketball fans all over the world. It should be no surprise that much of our success depends on the Referees who ensure the integrity of the game and a forum where player's skills, team dynamics, passion and dedication determine game outcomes.
It's our goal to recruit referees from around the globe to become part of our team, but also to provide those who want to pursue this exciting career with insight into how they can develop their skills to achieve professional-level officiating excellence.
Therefore the purpose of this website is two fold.
- We want you to better understand the officiating experience that will best instill knowledge and skills you need to be a professional referee.
- We want to learn more about you and where you currently stand against those experiences.
A solid officiating foundation and experience are necessary tools that help navigate the path to becoming a professional NBA or WNBA referee. To this end, we have mapped out the path of officiating experience that, combined with some innate skill and the dedication to succeed, will provide a candidate with the best opportunity to move and advance through the development and training process.


Adam Silver
Commissioner - NBA


Cathy Engelbert
Commissioner - WNBA


Shareef Abdur-Rahim
President - NBA G League
We review candidates based on expertise of officiating in live events. Prospective officials should contact any of these organizations to begin their professional journey. Candidates are evaluated by the NBA Scouting Group

NBA Scouting Group determine the Top 100 candidates list for evaluation events and proceed to the next phase.

NBA Referee Operations Management Team uses the 5 performance standards for advancement to the next phase.
Some candidates that have been identified but do not advance remain on a monitoring list for the following year.


All G League new hires participate in Summer League Training and/or an additional New Hire Orientation Session.

G League referees attend Referee Preseason Meeting, work games (preseason - playoffs). NBA Officials Interactive Website memos and testing. Game Observations and management team interactions

G League referees are evaluated and recommended for hire into the NBA and WNBA.
