Who are the referees for NBA Finals Game 1?
By Ian Levy
The 2024 NBA Playoffs have had plenty of close games and controversial calls but, for the most part, referees have not been in the center of any story since the first round. They'll be hoping that's the same for Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight, between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks — that the players decide the game and the officials are as invisible as possible.
Before the NBA Finals began, the league announced a crew of 12 referees who would rotate through different assignments throughout the series. Every referee chosen this year has previously worked at least one Finals game before. According to the league, these selections were assessed on performance in earlier rounds, and that is why they were chosen to advance.
Who are the referees for Game 1 of the NBA Finals?
ROLE | OFFICIAL |
|---|---|
Crew Chief | Zach Zarba |
Referee | Josh Tiven |
Umpire | Courtney Kirkland |
Alternate | Tyler Ford |
Replay Center | David Guthrie |
NBA officials are assigned one of five roles for each game. According to the NBA Officials website, the primary responsibilities are as follows:
- Crew Chief: Leader of the crew, on and off the floor
- Referee: Effectively the glue for a crew through consistency, teamwork, and communication — makes partners better by carrying a larger portion of the crew’s load than an Umpire
- Umpire: Aggressively and accurately calls plays in the primary area of responsibility
- Alternate: Ready to replace a referee in the event there was an injury or illness.
- Replay Center: Make the final ruling on all replays, except for Flagrant Fouls and Altercations.
There will be plenty of experience on the floor tonight — Zarba, Tiven and Guthrie are all on the list of active officials who have worked the most career NBA Finals games, with 29 combined. Zarba leads that group having worked 12 Finals games in his career.
Game 1 tips-off at 8:30 p.m. from Boston and will be broadcast on ABC.