The National Basketball Association announced on Tuesday that 36 officials have been selected for the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs which begins on Saturday, April 15.
Byron Spruell, the NBA’s president of league operations, released the names of shortlisted officials and he further congratulated them for their hardwork throughout the season.
“Qualifying for the postseason is the goal of NBA coaches and players, and the same is true for our NBA officials,” Spruell said. “Congratulations to this group of 36 officials on their on-court achievements and selection to work the 2023 NBA Playoffs.”
Experienced officials like Tony Brothers, Scott Foster, Marc Davis, Ed Malloy, Bill Kennedy, John Goble and Zach Zarba are joined by Ray Acosta and Aaron Smith making their playoff officiating debuts.
Lauren Holtkamp, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, Natalie Sago, Dedric Taylor and Scott Twardoski have been named as alternates for the first round of the Playoffs.
Officials for the 2023 playoff roster average 16 years of NBA experience, with 28 having 10 or more years of experience while 22 officials have five or more years of playoff experience.
Officials assigned to first-round games include 16 referees with 50 or more playoff games under their belt and seven referees with 100 or more playoff games officiated.
The Playoff officials are selected by the NBA Referee Operations management team based on three criteria assessed throughout the season: NBA Referee Operations graded rankings, play-calling accuracy and team rankings.
They will be evaluated after each round of the playoffs to determine who will advance in the 2023 post-season.
Full List of Officials
Ray Acosta, Brent Barnaky, Curtis Blair, Tony Brothers, Nick Buchert, Sean Corbin, Kevin Cutler, Eric Dalen, Marc Davis, JB DeRosa, Mitchell Ervin, Tyler Ford, Brian Forte, Scott Foster, Pat Fraher, Jacyn Goble, John Goble, David Guthrie, Bill Kennedy, Courtney Kirkland, Karl Lane, Eric Lewis, Mark Lindsay, Tre Maddox, Ed Malloy, Rodney Mott, Gediminas Petraitis, Kevin Scott, Aaron Smith, Michael Smith, Ben Taylor, Josh Tiven, Justin Van Duyne, James Williams, Sean Wright and Zach Zarba.
