Dick Bavetta's Backward Run to the Basketball Hall of Fame

Dick Bavetta was reading the newspaper before officiating a Phoenix Suns game, back in the 1990s, when he read an article noting that Charles Barkley enjoyed watching soap operas. Bavetta knew Barkley, and knew his penchant for arguing with the officials over calls. Now he knew what to say when Barkley approached him to complain about a call during a timeout. During the game, Bavetta told Barkley to return to his team's huddle, which is what he would have told any other player. Then Bavetta asked him if he'd caught that day's "All My Children."

Barkley was stunned. "He stopped and he looked at me and said, 'You watch All My Children?,'" Bavetta said. "I said, 'Yeah, Erica Kane is now involved with the chauffeur.' He goes, 'You've got to be kidding me.' I say, 'And Tad is going out with some waitress.'"

This was, as it turned out, the beginning of an unusual and enduring friendship. Bavetta knew Barkley would grill him about the latest developments in the show, and so he knew he'd have to watch "All My Children" before refereeing any game with Barkley in it.

Last weekend, the two were reunited when Bavetta became the first NBA referee in 20 years to get inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. As Bavetta delivered his speech, Barkley stood nearby on Springfield's Symphony Hall stage. He was one of the three people, along with Don Nelson and Bob Lanier, whom Bavetta had asked to be present on a night he never believed would happen.

Bavetta, who is 75, retired last summer after officiating an NBA record 2,635 consecutive games. He began his career with a Knicks-Celtics game on December 2, 1975, in Madison Square Garden and never missed an assigned game after that. It's a testament to his work ethic, his fitness level, and his good fortune, as well as the special mania of the elite NBA referee. It's what led Bavetta to wear five socks for each game and run at least five miles per day. What made him weird is what made him great.

"People make fun of me," Bavetta said. "I have thin legs. I don't have an imposing figure. But I always would say to these young officials coming in, 'A racehorse has thin legs, a greyhound has thin legs, and they're running forever.' I've just been blessed."

Bavetta started officiating in 1966, while working full-time in a management training program at Salomon Brothers; he used his vacation days to referee high school games in New York. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Joe, a referee in the ABA from 1968 to 1974, who encouraged him to stick with it. Bavetta worked his way up through the ranks, officiating summer games at Harlem's famed Rucker Park and spending weekends as a referee in the Eastern Basketball Association, which later became the CBA.

Despite all that, the NBA rejected Bavetta for nine consecutive years before finally hiring him. Yet Bavetta continued working on Wall Street until 1990. The low pay and fickle nature of a NBA refereeing career required as much: Bavetta earned $200 per game for an 82-game schedule and worked on a series of one-year contracts. He finally retired as a broker after he felt he had made enough money. He had just officiated the previous two NBA Finals. "I felt comfortable enough that maybe I wasn't going to get fired," Bavetta said.

By then, Bavetta had established himself as someone who would never back down. In those days, as in these, coaches and players did their best to intimidate officials; it was all just a bit more overt in that era. The Brooklyn-born Bavetta, the son of a police officer, wasn't easily overwhelmed. He was almost always the smallest person on the floor, and the least afraid. The job demanded nothing less.

On November 9, 1984, during a Celtics-76ers game in Boston, Bavetta's partner, Jack Madden, broke his leg colliding with Celtics guard Dennis Johnson. Bavetta was left to officiate the rest of the game by himself. Bavetta remembers that the teams tried to take advantage of having only one referee. In the anarchic aftermath, Larry Bird and Julius Erving traded punches, and Bavetta had to throw both future Hall of Famers out of the game.

"The message that was sent," Bavetta said, "was maybe a lesser official wouldn't have had the intestinal fortitude to eject two superstars. That kind of set the tone for me moving forward."

As the years passed, Bavetta became more confident and poised, and also more approachable. He is one of the most recognizable and respected referees in basketball history, as evidenced by his officiating 270 playoff games and 27 Finals, but he retired without earning a reputation as a combative hard-ass in the process. Instead, he had the respect of the players he worked alongside.

These days, Bavetta splits time between his 400-acre farm in Florida and his log cabin in upstate New York. He hangs out more than ever with his wife, two daughters, and two grandchildren, and works on numerous charity endeavors. Mostly, he is just glad to be home. When he watched the Weather Channel last season and noticed blizzards in cities such as Minnesota, Detroit, Cleveland, and Boston, he was grateful he didn't have to hustle to the airport and board a flight.

"The travel was a killer," he said. "As far as I was concerned, I really don't miss that at all. I was just blessed to be able to make all my games and continue the streak as it was."

Through the years, Bavetta kept a professional distance from most players and coaches, so as not to let relationships impact how he called games. Still, he admits that he especially liked some guys, none more so than Barkley.

In January 2007, Barkley was announcing a game in Sacramento when he joked with partner Marv Albert that he could win a race against Bavetta, who was one of the referees. The two traded barbs, but Bavetta didn't think anything of it. After officiating a game in Houston that February, Bavetta was looking forward to flying home and having a few days off for the All-Star break. An NBA official then called and told him to head to Las Vegas to square off against Barkley as part of All-Star Saturday.

As Bavetta stretched and prepared for the race, he noticed his wife, Paulette, hugging Barkley and taking photographs with him.

"He says to her, 'Are you OK with this?,'" Bavetta said. "She said, 'Yeah, I hope you beat him.'"

Bavetta kept the race close, even diving headfirst near midcourt in an attempt to win, but Barkley, who is 23 years younger that Bavetta, ended up winning the contest and gaining bragging rights. Afterward, the two kissed each other on the lips. Today, Paulette Bavetta keeps a photo of her and Barkley embracing on her smartphone.

"I'm not even on there," Bavetta said. "She's got him, her cats, and things like that. I know my priority with things. As far as Charles [as Bavetta's Hall of Fame presenter], that was a no-brainer."

After the induction ceremony on Friday night, Barkley sat on the back of a chair in Symphony Hall and caught up with the Bavettas.

"So let me get this straight," Barkley said. "You're not working anymore?"

"No," Bavetta said.

"So you've got to be with him all the time?" said Barkley, looking at Paulette.

Paulette laughed.

"You've got to be with him every day?" Barkley said. "All day?"

"Every single day," Paulette said.

"That's why the farm is 400 acres," Dick Bavetta said.

"Unbelievable," Barkley told Paulette. "You're going to heaven after this."

Barkley didn't realize Bavetta lived in such a rural setting.

"Wait, you live on a farm?" Barkley said.

"Yeah, we have a ranch," Bavetta said.

"You don't do anything on the farm," Barkley said. "You've got animals and stuff?"

"Well, we've got cows and horses and stuff. And hay," Bavetta said.

"I'd pay money to see you on a horse," Barkley said.

"Don't do that," Paulette said.

"Don't do that?" Barkley said.

Bavetta said he's been riding horses since he was a child.

"They had horses back then?" Barkley said.

"When you live in Brooklyn, you don't tell people you ride horses," Bavetta said.

"That's funny," Barkley said.

"He drives a tractor," Paulette said.

"Oh, my God," Barkley said. "Just when you thought the night couldn't get any funnier. He rides a horse and he drives a tractor."

"If you're in Orlando, I'll cook you an Italian meal," Paulette said.

"Or whatever he wants," Bavetta said.

"Wait a minute," Barkley said. "Y'all got a farm in Orlando?"

"No, it's 90 miles north," Bavetta said.

"It's actually in Ocala," Paulette said.

"OK, you scared me for a second," Barkley said. "Ain't nothing in Orlando but hotels."

Bavetta explained that six of the past seven Kentucky Derby winners were raised or trained near Ocala, including Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh.

"First of all, if you had American Pharaoh, you wouldn't be living in Ocala," Barkley said.

"No, I'm just saying," Bavetta said. "I had no part of that."

"You must have shitty horses," Barkley said.

"We just have a lot of shit all around because of the cows, that's all," Bavetta said.

As Barkley spoke, a few kids from Washington, D.C., approached him. Barkley signed autographs for each one.

"How are you guys doing in school, man?" Barkley said. "Good? Y'all do good in school. The world's got enough dumb people."

"This man is the best," Bavetta said as he watched the scene from nearby.

"Y'all stay in them books, man," Barkley told the kids.

Barkley's attention then turned back to Bavetta, his old friend.

"I will admit," Barkley said, "Cows are a good investment."