Steve Javie

Part of being a role player is doing the things just off of center stage. Facilitating, supporting, and generally making sure the show goes on without a hitch. Sometimes you don’t even know a good role player’s name but you can’t miss their impact. And the best type of referee is the one you see all of the time but you may not be sure of their name. With the sort of officials/referees/umpire shortage crisis we are seeing in amateur sports, we know that the guys with the whistles are key players, but there aren’t a lot of Angel Hernendez fans out there. This week’s guest is an official who was on the court with some of the biggest names in basketball history but most people don’t know his name; just the way a good referee likes it. Steve Javie joins the podcast to talk about having the best seat in the arena for about 1,800 NBA games.

Steve Javie made a career out of officiating, first as a baseball umpire and then as a basketball official. After his minor league baseball career came to an abrupt end due to an injury, Javie stayed on the diamond as an umpire. He served as a minor league umpire in the Florida State League for a few years before switching over to the Continental Basketball Association. Javie entered the ranks of NBA officials in the 1986 season and would be running up and down the court for 25 years.

Steve Javie’s career spanned the end of Dr. J’s career, the start of Michael Jordan’s, some of the peak years of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the rise of Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, and so many more legends. Javie officiated 23 NBA Finals games, 243 playoff games, and almost 1,600 regular-season games. Over the course of his 25 years, he saw just about everything. After retiring from the court, Javie stayed close to the game as a rules analyst for ESPN.

Just like any other team, the Catholic Church needs role players too. Steve Javie traded his rule book for the Good Book and donned a new uniform as a Catholic Deacon in 2019.

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