Official (basketball)
In basketball, an official 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 speed of play and 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 has allowed the referee to designate which official (referee or umpire) shall perform the jump ball.
Read more about Official (basketball): Equipment, Positions and Responsibilities, Difficulty
Famous quotes containing the word official:
“I thought it altogether proper that I should take a brief furlough from official duties at Washington to mingle with you here to-day as a comrade, because every President of the United States must realize that the strength of the Government, its defence in war, the army that is to muster under its banner when our Nation is assailed, is to be found here in the masses of our people.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)