Joe Crawford, Retired NBA Ref Now Mentoring Future NBA Refs

Senior Profile by Christina Manning

Photos from the collection of Joe Crawford

Senior citizens are vital, special and integral members of the Marple Newtown community. Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors is excited to introduce our new feature, “Senior Profile,” where you can “meet” one of your senior neighbors and “hear” their perspective about what life has taught them about how to achieve their goals and how they can best serve their community. This month’s “Senior Profile” is about Joe Crawford, a Newtown Square resident whose long and illustrious career with the NBA taught him many things about himself and also how important and valuable lifelong learning is.

As a kid, when Joe Crawford went to watch a basketball game, his focus wasn’t on the players; it was on the refs. From a young age, he always felt a pull towards the world of refereeing. “I was raised in officiating,” explained Joe. “My father was a Major League Baseball Umpire and that’s what sparked my interest in it.”

Born and raised in Havertown, Joe attended Cardinal O’Hara High School. After graduating in 1969, Joe started college but left after a year, to focus on refereeing so he could achieve his dream of becoming an NBA referee. “I wanted to be in the greatest league in the world,” said Joe, “and ref the greatest players in the world.” To improve his skills, he was reffing anywhere and everywhere he could, while working at General Electric and the Post Office. In 1977, all his hard work and persistence paid off and his dreams became a reality: the NBA hired him.

Joe and Mary Crawford

Just like any other job, being an NBA ref had its positives and negatives. During the basketball season, Joe was away from his wife Mary and three daughters for 20–25 days every month. “We moved to Newtown Square and Mary was running the house,” said Joe. “I was the selfish one, doing what I wanted to do.” The constant travel that’s required at the professional sports level has made that divorce rate very high.

It was really hard," said Joe, "but I learned strength from my family, especially from Mary.

Throughout his long travels and hotel stays, Joe completed his college degree online at Neumann University. He graduated in 2009. “It’s probably my greatest accomplishment,” he said.

The positives that came with Joe’s job turned out to outweigh the bad. When asked about a game he would never forget, three games came to mind. “Since 1970, there have been only a handful of Game 7s,” said Joe, “and I have experienced three of them.” The thrill and adrenaline of being a part of this league was like no other.

Joe Crawford, the 2014 National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) Gold Whistle Award recipient, for outstanding contributions beyond officiating

After 39 years as an NBA ref, Joe retired in 2016. “I felt rudderless!” said Joe. “Officiating had been my whole life, and all of a sudden, it was over.” The NBA decided to take advantage of Joe’s expertise, however, by offering him a job on the corporate side of things, as Director of Refereeing Performance. “Becoming an NBA referee is harder than becomingan NBA player,” explained Joe. “There are only 70 NBA referees and the process to become one can take years. It’s a whole different ball game now than it was for me,” said Joe. Part of his job is to teach and work with up-and-coming referees and make sure the best of the best are selected to go to the NBA.

“My career is over,” said Joe, “and now I’m doing something that’s the complete opposite.” With this new job, Joe has different goals in mind.

I used to be just worried about myself and the plays I was calling,” said Joe, “but now my mindset is to help other refs be better.