John Nucatola was a professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player, coach and referee

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...

. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on 1 May 1978.

Biography

John Nucatola officiated some of the greatest games in the ECAC

Eastern College Athletic Conference

The Eastern College Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 21 sports . It has 317 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from Maine to North Carolina and west to Illinois...

, Atlantic Coast, Southern and Big Eight Conferences, along with the NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 and NIT

National Invitation Tournament

The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...

 tournaments. He also dabbled in the professional arenas of the American Basketball League

American Basketball League (1925-1955)

The American Basketball League was an early professional basketball league. During six seasons from 1925-26 to 1930-31, the ABL was the first attempt to create a major professional basketball league in the United States...

, Basketball Association of America

Basketball Association of America

The Basketball Association of America was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. The league merged with the National Basketball League in 1949, forming the National Basketball Association ...

, and the NBA.

Nucatola was one of the original referees in the NBA when the league was organized as the BAA in 1946

1946 in sports

-American football:* All-America Football Conference begins play. Cleveland Browns win the championship by beating New York Yankees 14-9.* Chicago Bears win the NFL crown by defeating the New York Giants 24-14 in New York.-Association football:England...

. Nucatola was one of the founding fathers of the College Basketball Officials Association and served as supervisor of officials for the Ivy League and the ECAC before being named the NBA Supervisor of Officials. In a life dedicated to the development of basketball and basketball officiating, Nucatola conducted more than 1,200 clinics worldwide, as well as authoring Officiating Basketball.

He was called basketball's "greatest official" by Hall of Famer Clair Bee

Clair Bee

Clair Francis Bee was an American basketball coach, who led the team at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939, as well as two National Invitation Tournament titles...

. Nucatola believed the referee's most important duty was to make the right call rather than merely assert authority. He often urged officials to be willing to reconsider their calls, and was a strong advocate of the three-man officiating crew.