A legendary former NBA referee has died this week at the age of 81.
Marc J. Spears of ESPN reports that longtime official Hugh Evans passed away on Friday morning, citing an announcement from Evans’ wife Cathy.
Evans served as an NBA referee for nearly three decades from 1973 to 2001. He officiated a total of 1,969 regular season contests, 170 playoff games, 35 NBA Finals contests, and four NBA All-Star Games, Spears says. Evans was also just selected for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2022 class. He will be inducted posthumously during the official Hall of Fame ceremony in September.
Here is a brief highlight video of Evans’ time as an NBA official, including some cool moments with greats like Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Allen Iverson.
The news of Evans’ passing comes after another former NBA figure died earlier this week at 81 as well.
