Richie Powers
Richie Powers | |
|---|---|
NBA referee (1956โ1979) | |
| Spouse(s) | Virginia; a second marriage ended in 1987 |
Richard Francis Powers (October 14,sportscaster for WABC-TV.
Early life and career
Powers attended
Eastern League
.
NBA officiating career
1976 NBA Finals
Powers officiated the triple-overtime Game 5 of the
golf professional that he didn't want to see the championship decided on a technicality.[3] Angered over the incident, Al Bianchi, then-assistant coach of the Suns, ordered a ring in which the words "Fuck You, Richie Powers" were inscribed.[3]
Powers was also attacked in the same game by an irate Celtics fan on the court after making the decision to put one second back on the game clock following a made bank shot by the Celtics'
play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger were quick to note on the telecast of the game that two seconds remained,[4] but Powers made the decision that only one second remained in the second overtime period after order was restored in the arena.[5]
Decision to retire
Powers' strength among the referees was diminished considerably when he was one of two referees (with
the Spectrum, Powers hit both Kevin Loughery and then rookie Bernard King with their third technical fouls, over the "limit" of two prescribed by an unwritten rule, although Powers claims he was not reminded that each person was hit with a previous technical foul by the other officials working the game with him. This resulted in Powers' being fined and suspended again, and the game being restarted from the point of the technicals after an upheld protest. Nets guard Eric Money
played in the replay of the game's last few minutes in March 1979. At that point he had been traded to the Sixers, resulting in him becoming the only professional basketball player to score for two different teams in one game.
Powers retired from the NBA after the 1978โ79 season.[7]
Later life
After leaving the NBA, he became a sportscaster on
Rye, New York,[citation needed] and died of a stroke[1] in 1998 in Allentown, Pennsylvania at the age of 67.[2]
Further reading
- Overtime!: An Uninhibited Account of a Referee's Life in the NBA by Mark Mulvoy and Richie Powers, 1975, published by McKay (ISBN 0-679-50545-8)
References
- ^ a b Grasso, John; Robert Bradley; Bill Hoover; David Bender. "KNOWN DECEASED BASKETBALL INDIVIDUALS". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ CNN Sports Illustrated. 1998-08-05. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ a b c d e f g Young, Bob (2001-06-03). "Greatest Game Ever". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ The NBA on CBS: 1976 NBA Finals. 1976-06-04.
- ^ a b c "Triple-OT Classic Highlights Boston's 13th Title". National Basketball Association. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ a b Litsky, Frank. "Richie Powers, 67, a Referee in the NBA". The New York Times. p. D16:4. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ "N.B.A. Releases 10 Referees". New York Times. 1979-06-30. p. 13:4.
- A Long Way Down Referee Magazine, July 1991