Norm Drucker
Norm Drucker was a major influence in professional basketball officiating for overyears. His NBA and ABA officiating career as both a referee and Supervisor of Officials spanned the careers of alltime pro basketball greats, from George Mikan, Bob Cousy, Dolph Schayes and Bob Pettit in the 1950s, to Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Bill Russell in the 1960s, to Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Bill Bradley and Walt Frazier in the 1970s and to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s.
Drucker was born in New York City, New York. He was hired as a referee by the National Basketball Association in 1953. By the early 60s he was regularly officiating two to four games in the NBA Finals each season. In 1969, when the twoyearold American Basketball Association was raiding the NBA for talent, he took the risk, along with three other NBA lead referees Joe Gushue, Earl Strom and John Vanak and jumped to the financially uncertain ABA. Their contracts were the first multiyear officiating contracts in pro basketball history. Such was Druckers stature and reputation, that his total salary, as a referee and Supervisor of Officials, along with a 25,000 signing bonus, was more than double the average NBA players salary. It made him, at that time, the highest paid referee in the history of basketball. Within a year, all other pro basketball officials benefited, as their salaries more than doubled. As a result, officiating professional basketball evolved from a parttime second job,
Source: Wikipedia