Ashley Moyer-Gleich checked her email just before heading to the airport Saturday for what she thought would be the final game of the season.
That’s when the news came in: She had more games to do.
Moyer-Gleich will soon become the second woman in NBA history to referee a play-off match. She was one of 36 referees announced by the league on Thursday as the referees selected for Round 1 of the playoffs that begin this weekend.
“It’s strange,” Moyer-Gleich said. “It’s true.”
She joins Violet Palmer as the only women selected by the NBA for a playoff assignment. Palmer played in nine playoff games from 2006 to 2012.
Moyer-Gleich, a former Division II player at Millersville University in her native Pennsylvania, was promoted to a full-time NBA officiating position in November 2018. She competed in more than 200 regular-season games in his six seasons and was one of three starters. -timed playoff picks for this year’s tournament – Marat Kogut and JT Orr are the others.
“I played four games as a substitute last year, so obviously, my goal is to want to be a substitute again because it’s just to maintain the development that I have had in my career.” “And then seeing my name on the list of floor officials working… I mean, my mom was with me, she was with me for my last two games on a short trip, and to open that email and take you there with me.” and sharing that news, it’s really quite amazing.”
Full list of first round referees selected by the NBA: Ray Acosta, Brent Barnaky, Curtis Blair, Tony Brothers, Nick Buchert, James Capers, Sean Corbin, Kevin Cutler, Marc Davis, JB DeRosa, Mitchell Ervin, Tyler Ford, Brian Forte, Scott Foster, Pat Fraher, Jacyn Goble, John Goble, David Guthrie, Bill Kennedy, Courtney Kirkland, Karl Lane, Mark Lindsay, Ed Malloy, Gediminas Petraitis, Kevin Scott, Aaron Smith, Ben Taylor, Dedric Taylor, Josh Tiven , Justin Van Duyne, James Williams, Sean Wright, Zach Zarba, Kogut, Orr and Moyer-Gleich.
“Congratulations to these 36 officials on the well-deserved and prestigious honor of being chosen to officiate the NBA Playoffs,” said NBA President of League Operations Byron Spruell. “We appreciate the professionalism, dedication and teamwork our operations staff demonstrated every day throughout the season.”
The league cuts the officiating roster for each round, typically culminating with a 12-man roster for the NBA Finals. Those referees will receive white warm-up jackets for the Finals, something the league has had as a tradition for many years.
Moyer-Gleich isn’t there yet — but she’s one step closer.
“Just as the playoffs are coveted, the white jacket is even more coveted,” she said. “Obviously it’s an aspiration and it’s a very distant goal. And hopefully I can continue on that same trajectory, continue to increase my responsibilities on the floor, maybe move from referee to crew chief at some point and then hopefully get to the finals Link – the epitome of what we do. And whether I’m the first or not, I think just one woman coming through and having that opportunity is huge.”
Associated Press reports.
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