Norm Drucker

Norm Drucker (July 4, 1920 – February 6, 2015) was a major influence in professional basketball officiating for over 35 years.

In 1949, Drucker began his officiating career refereeing AAU, high school, collegiate, and American Basketball League games.

His NBA and ABA officiating career as both a referee and Supervisor of Officials spanned the careers of all-time pro basketball greats, from George Mikan, Bob Cousy, Dolph Schayes and Bob Pettit in the 1950s, to Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Bill Russell in the 1960s, to Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Bill Bradley and Walt Frazier in the 1970s and to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s.

Drucker was born in New York City.

Other incidents with fans were common in the NBA in the 1950s and 1960s.

"Then Russell Said to Bird...": The Greatest Celtics Stories Ever Told", page 121. It was so bad in Syracuse in the 1950s that Drucker noted that when he and his officiating partner would leave the court after a Syracuse loss, "[we] would take off our belts and wrap them around our fists, with the buckles obvious to everyone.

Drucker was hired as a referee by the National Basketball Association in 1953.

That year, NBA rookie officials earned $35 per game with the top veteran referees getting $50 per game.

Working a full 70-game season would net a rookie referee $2,450, 29% less than the 1953 U.S. median family income of $4,000.For most officials, their NBA refereeing was their second job.

After two seasons, he requested a raise of $5 per game and then-NBA President Maurice Podoloff replied, "What are you trying to do, bankrupt the NBA?"

On November 15, 1958, in Detroit, after a two-point Piston loss, a fan ran onto the court and "took a punch at Norm Drucker".

The Stars and Stripes, Nov. 16, 1958, page 18.

By the early 1960s, he was regularly officiating two to four games in the NBA Finals each season.

The Chicago Tribune, Feb. 25, 1963, page 49.

Gettysburg Times, Feb. 25, 1963, page 4.

According to the Associated Press, on February 24, 1964 in Los Angeles, Drucker was "mauled and kicked as he was leaving the dressing room at halftime".

But Drucker's injuries "were not serious enough to keep him from continuing".

As late as 1964, security for NBA officials was so lax, that "a fan tangled with referees Norm Drucker and Richie Powers," as they left the court after San Francisco defeated St. Louis in a playoff game.

The Bee, April 9, 1964, page 10-A.

After the Lakers defeated the Celtics in game 5 of the NBA Finals in Boston on April 24, 1966, "a gaggle of idiots" confronted Drucker and Earl Strom.

In 1969, when the two-year-old American Basketball Association was raiding the NBA for talent, he took the risk, along with three other NBA lead referees, Joe Gushue, Earl Strom, and John Vanak, and jumped to the financially uncertain ABA.

Their contracts were the first multi-year officiating contracts in pro basketball history.

Such was Drucker's stature and reputation, that his total salary, as a referee and Supervisor of Officials, along with a $25,000 signing bonus, was more than double the average NBA player's salary.

It made him, at that time, the highest paid referee in the history of basketball.

Within a year, all other pro basketball officials benefited, as their salaries more than doubled.

As a result, officiating professional basketball evolved from a part-time second job, to a full-time career, with greatly improved working conditions, benefits and pension plans.

It was the first time in history that a league had promoted the quality of its officials which improved the ABA's credibility, and as a by-product enhanced the public's interest in, and respect for referees.

In the ABA, Drucker officiated and also served as the league's Supervisor of Officials.

In a 1969 interview with Newsday's Stan Isaacs, he said, "I think there is a part of me deep down that enjoys calling a foul against the home team and then standing out there alone, almost defying the cries of the hometown mob."

During this era, Drucker and any other referee who wasn't a "homer" had to have the courage to fight off violent hometown fans.

For example, the Syracuse Nationals had a fan nicknamed "The Strangler" who "thought nothing of menacing officials".

Mr. Basketball: George Mikan, the Minneapolis Lakers, and the Birth of the NBA, page 135.

"[He] tried to strangle a college referee one time. I think that's where he got his name."

noted Drucker in "From Set Shot to Slam Dunk" According to Drucker, the Strangler would "run up and down the sidelines during the game...screaming, 'You SOB, you stink.'" Mr. Basketball: George Mikan, the Minneapolis Lakers, and the Birth of the NBA, page 135.

With the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, Drucker was one of only a handful of ABA referees hired by the NBA to return.

When he retired after the 1976-77 NBA season to become the NBA's Supervisor of Officials, his 24 consecutive seasons of officiating was the longest string in pro basketball history.

It remains the record for longest tenure for a pro referee among those whose entire career was during the era of only two referees per game.

During that span he officiated 6 All-Star Games (3 NBA, 3 ABA), a higher total than any other official in pro basketball history other than Mendy Rudolph and Earl Strom both of whom officiated seven.

When he retired, his total of 38 NBA and ABA championship round games officiated was the second highest in pro basketball history.

In his 24-year officiating career (17 in the NBA and 7 in the ABA), Drucker was well known for his even-handed officiating for visiting teams in an era when many officials were criticized as "homers" - favoring the home team.