In 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...

, 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

Basketball statistics

Statistics in basketball are kept to evaluate a player or a team's performance.Some statistics are* GP, GS: games played, games started* PTS: points* FGM, FGA, FG%: field goals made, attempted and percentage...

 and timekeepers

Timekeepers

Timekeepers was a daytime quiz programme that aired on BBC1 for 2 series in 1995, the programme was hosted by Bill Dod.-Gameplay:On each edition 3 contestants have 5 minutes to start with and the aim of the show was to keep hold to as much time as possible over 4 rounds and the contestant with the...

, 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

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

, the lead official is called the crew chief and the other two officials are "referees". In FIBA

International Basketball Federation

The International Basketball Federation, more commonly known as FIBA , from its French name Fédération Internationale de Basketball, is an association of national organizations which governs international competition in basketball...

-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

Jump ball

A jump ball is a method used to begin or resume play in basketball. It is similar to a face-off in ice hockey or ball-up in Australian rules football...

 to begin the contest, though NFHS recently has allowed the referee to designate which official (referee or umpire) shall perform the jump ball

Jump ball

A jump ball is a method used to begin or resume play in basketball. It is similar to a face-off in ice hockey or ball-up in Australian rules football...

.

Equipment

In American high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 and college basketball

College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

, 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

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 officials wear gray 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 ULEB

ULEB

ULEB was founded in 1991, with the aim to help in the cooperation and development of European professional club basketball leagues...

—the Euroleague

Euroleague

Euroleague Basketball, commonly known as the Euroleague, is the highest level tier and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, members of FIBA Europe. For sponsorship reasons, for five seasons starting with 2010–2011, it is...

 and Eurocup—wear an orange referee shirt. Officials in the Israel Basketball Association

Israel Basketball Association

The Israel Basketball Association is the official organization of professional basketball in Israel. The organization oversees the regulation of the sport, team and player registration, rules of the game, various official certification, and the National team...

 generally wear the Euroleague

Euroleague

Euroleague Basketball, commonly known as the Euroleague, is the highest level tier and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, members of FIBA Europe. For sponsorship reasons, for five seasons starting with 2010–2011, it is...

'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.

All officials wear a whistle

Whistle

A whistle or call is a simple aerophone, an instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means...

 that is utilized to stop play as a result of a foul or a violation on the court. In all instances of officiating, hand signals are utilized to indicate the nature of the infraction or to administer the game.

In higher levels of college and professional ball, all officials wear a timing device on the belt-line called PTS (Precision Timing System). The device is used by on court officials to start and stop the game clock in a timely manner, rather than waiting for the scoreboard operator (Time keeper) to do so.

Positions and responsibilities

The official must ensure that the game runs smoothly, and this encompasses a variety of different responsibilities, from calling the game to player and spectator management. They also carry a duty of care to the players they officiate, and to ensure that the court and all equipment used is in a safe and usable condition. Should there be an issue that inhibits the safe playing of the game, then it is the job of the officials to rectify the problem. Quite often, the job of an official surpasses that of the game at hand, as they must overcome unforeseen situations that may or may not have an influence on the game.

There are two standard methods for officiating a basketball game, either "two-person" or "three-person" mechanics depending on how many officials are available to work the game.
In "two-person" mechanics, each official works either the lead or the trail position. The lead position is normally along the baseline of the court, with the trail position having its starting point at the free throw line extended on the left side of the court facing the basket. Officials do change position a lot during the game to cover the area in the best possible way. As the game transitions from one end of the court to the other, the lead becomes the trail and vice versa. Between the two positions, each is responsible for a specific part of the court as well as two each of the side, base or back court lines. Officials change position after certain calls (mostly when the lead official calls a defensive foul). This allows officials to alternate between positions to increase the speed of play; one official will approach the bench whilst another, usually the closest to the bench at that time, will move to occupy his position. This also prevents one official from always working one particular team's basket throughout the course of the game.

In "three-person" mechanics, the court is further divided among three officials, with the lead (baseline) official determining the position of the other two officials. Normally, the lead official will move to the side of the court in which the ball is located (strong side), particularly if there is a "post-up" player in that position. The official that is on the same sideline as the lead official then takes up a position approximately level with the top of the three-point line and becomes the "trail" official, while the third official will stand across the court near the free throw

Free throw

In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points from a restricted area on the court , and are generally awarded after a foul on the shooter by the opposing team...

 line in what is called the centre position. This creates a triangle

Triangle

A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....

 coverage of the court. Often, the lead will switch sides of the baseline during a play, requiring the trail to move down to be level with the free-throw line and become the new centre, while the centre will move up and become the trail . As the ball moves to the other end of the court in transition, the lead will become the trail, the trail will become the lead, and the centre official will remain in the centre (unless the new "lead" moves across the baseline to cover the strong side, in which case the centre official and trail would then switch positions.)

Difficulty

Basketball is regarded as among the most difficult sports to officiate. Usually basketball officials have only a brief moment to determine if an infraction has occurred, due to the speed of play of the game and the officials proximity to the action. Especially difficult is the "charge/block" call as to which player is responsible for contact.

Despite the misconception that basketball is a non-contact sport, officials often let a large amount of contact pass uncalled, often in order to avoid unnecessarily disadvantaging players and maintain the "flow" of a game. An official must always be wary of not just what is happening around the ball, but the roughness of play going on around the whole court, adding to the job of the official.

Further complicating the job of an official is the proximity to the crowds. Unlike football or baseball, the crowd is nearly always located within feet of the official, as are coaches and other players on the bench. To combat this, officials are able to remove players from the court with an ejection (NBA) or disqualifing foul (FIBA).

Administrative

Officials are responsible for a number of administrative actions. These include the shot clock

Shot clock

A shot clock is used in some sports to quicken the pace of the game. It is normally associated with basketball, but has also found use in sports such as snooker, professional lacrosse, water polo, and korfball....

, the game clock, the score, the safety of players on the court and any possible elimination of players, which can occur for a variety of reasons. For instance, if a player meets the limit of the fouls (if they foul an opponent, or violate the rules five or six times, depending on the association (5 in FIBA, 6 in NBA)), the player is disqualified, however is not asked to leave the arena, however should a player be given a disqualifing foul he/ she will be asked to leave the arena.

Violations

When a violation occurs the action is immediately stopped. These include traveling

Traveling (basketball)

In basketball, traveling is a violation of the rules that occurs when a player holding the ball moves one or both of his feet illegally. Most commonly, a player travels by illegally moving his pivot foot or taking too many steps without dribbling the ball....

, illegal dribbles

Double dribble

In the game of basketball, a double dribble is a violation in which a player dribbles the ball, clearly holds it with a combination of either one or two hands , and then proceeds to dribble again without first either attempting a field goal or passing off to a teammate...

, out-of-bounds, over and back, and other violations. The official is required to blow the whistle and immediately stop play and turn the ball over to the opposing team.

Fouls

A foul normally occurs when a player physically impedes the action of a player of the opposing team. Examples include blocking, hand-checking, illegal use of the hands and pushing is one of the more discretionary calls. A player may legally gain possession of a rebound over an opponent, provided they do not physically displace them. The proper foul, if one occurs in this situation, is normally a "push foul" for displacing the other rebounder.

If for some reason a player or team member (or in rare cases a spectator) behaves with disorderly or offensive conduct, officials often charge a technical foul

Technical foul

In basketball, a technical foul is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between players on the court, or is a foul by a non-player. The most common technical foul is for unsportsmanlike conduct...

or unsportsmanlike foul against that person. If a player or team member displays further inappropriate behavior, officials may eject the person from the court. This adds to the stress load of the official; these types of fouls often aggravate players and spectators, often resulting in rough play, leading to more technical fouls and/or ejections. Coaches, particularly in higher levels of basketball, will sometimes intentionally behave inappropriately in order to receive a technical foul, with the aim of "firing-up" players and spectators.