Also called: Professional Basketball Referee
Officiates professional basketball games in the NBA.
NBA referees work about 70 games a season, traveling constantly. They review their own calls with league officiating staff after games. Positioning and fitness are crucial; refs run miles each game.
Estimate based on reported NBA referee pay.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 12 years after high school. Years officiating college and G League games; selected through the NBA development program.
Ways in: On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Physical Education, Sports Management.
Growing about average (about 3% over 10 years). Very few positions.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Replay and AI tracking assist on out-of-bounds and clock calls; judging contact live stays human.
Classes: Physical education, Speech, Psychology.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-2023.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.