Steve Javie

His godfather, Johnny Stevens, was an American League umpire and worked four World Series in a career that spanned from 1948 to 1975.

Javie resides in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

Stan Javie worked in the National Football League from 1951 to 1980 as a field judge

and back judge, and was assigned to officiate four Super Bowls.

In an interview with Referee magazine, Steve Javie described his father as "a guy you'd go to war with. He had a passion. He was probably the official that everyone strives to be, but can't, because you have to be yourself. I can't be a Stan Javie and you can't be, but if you took all the characteristics and makeup, you'd want to be that kind of official."

Steve Javie (born January 17, 1955) is an American retired professional basketball referee who refereed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from the 1986–87 NBA season to the 2010–11 season and is currently an analyst with ESPN and a Catholic permanent deacon.

Javie officiated 1,514 regular season, 243 playoff, and 23 NBA Finals games (a total of 1,780 games) and is one of few NBA referees to officiate 1,000 games.

According to Referee magazine, Javie was a highly regarded referee in the NBA, and he was respected within the officiating community for his game management skills.

He was also notable during his NBA officiating career for his quickness in assessing technical fouls.

Prior to his NBA career, he played and graduated from La Salle College High School.

Steve Javie was born on January 17, 1955, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Stan and Stella Javie.

During his childhood, he attended and later graduated from La Salle College High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he played baseball, football, and basketball, earning All-League honors in baseball and basketball.

Following high school, he continued a baseball career at Temple University.

He later played baseball for Temple University from 1974 to 1976 and later was an umpire in the Florida State League (Class-A) from 1978 to 1981.

He graduated from the university in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in business administration.

As a prospect in baseball, Javie signed with the Baltimore Orioles minor league organization.

He was released from the Orioles minor league system (Class-A) after one year due to an arm injury suffered as a pitcher.

Steve Javie's father, Stan Javie, was also a sports official.

Becoming uninterested in his job at Johnson & Johnson, he decided to pursue an occupation within sports, and became a baseball umpire in 1978.

Having no prior experience as an arbiter, Javie attended an umpire school operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire Bill Kinnamon.

Upon completion of training, he was selected to work in the Florida State League.

Looking to be promoted to the Class-AA Eastern League, he was denied entrance into the league due to scheduling conflicts and later a players' strike.

Upon arriving in the NBA, Javie developed a reputation early for having a "quick trigger finger", and he was believed to be one of the league leaders in calling technical fouls during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Transitioning to basketball, he officiated in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1981 to 1986.

In June 1981, after two and a half years in the Florida State League, Javie left the organization over disagreements with executives due to the lack of promotion opportunities, and being forced to split from an experienced umpire crew that included Jerry Layne, who later worked in the major leagues.

While serving as an umpire, Javie had officiated basketball games at the high school level in Pennsylvania during the baseball off-season.

In addition, he was invited to NBA camps for prospective officials.

Within a week of return home following the end of his umpiring career, Javie contacted his father's friend, NBA referee Earl Strom, who assisted Javie in reaching then-CBA supervisor Cecil Watkins about the possibility of working in the CBA.

After officiating games in Philadelphia's Baker League, he was hired by the CBA in the fall of 1981.

He arrived to the CBA with a "baseball mentality" and had to make quick decisions on the court because of the league's reputation for fighting among players and arguing by coaches.

During a game at The Armory in Albany, New York, Javie was chased down a staircase by then-Albany Patroons coach Phil Jackson, who had received a technical foul.

He worked CBA games for five years before being hired by the NBA in 1986.

He is married to Mary-ellen, whom he met in 1990 at the Philadelphia International Airport, where she was employed.

The couple was married in August 1991.

Along with his wife, Steve Javie started the Javie Foundation for Charity to raise money for the homeless, disabled, abused and neglected children.

He hosts an annual fundraising golf tournament to support a variety of causes in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

The two-day event, which also includes dinner, dance, and silent auction, has raised US$1 million since its inception.

Reflecting on his early years in the league, Javie told Sports Illustrated in October 2000, "I'd get so mad I'd lose control for two or three minutes, and that's when I would miss calls."

In 2007, he participated in a summer clinic at Don Guanella High School in Springfield, Pennsylvania, along with four other NBA officials, teaching developmentally delayed boys the rules of basketball and how to signal violations.

After his baseball playing career was over at age 22, Javie began working at Johnson & Johnson in their baby products line.