Ron Garretson

Who is Ron Garretson?

Ron Garretson is an American professional basketball referee for the National Basketball Association. In his 20+ NBA seasons, since 1987, officiated over 1,600 games, including 1,397 regular season NBA games, 157 playoff games and 11 Finals games. He also officiated the 1993 Europe Tour in London and the 1997 and 2013 NBA All-Star Games. He is the son of former NBA referee Darell Garretson, who died in April 2008 at the age of 76.

Garretson attended Servite High School in Anaheim, California, where he played basketball and football. He then earned an Associate of Arts degree from Golden West Junior College. Before joining the NBA as a referee, he spent two years officiating high school games in Arizona and two more in the Continental Basketball Association.

In a game during the 1995–96 season, Garretson was involved in an on-court incident with Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Van Exel. After a timeout with 3 minutes left, Garretson called a technical foul on Van Exel for arguing a call. Van Exel continued to argue and reportedly called Garretson a "little midget." Garretson then called another technical foul, which automatically ejected Van Exel.