American Hugh Evans, one of six former referees in NBA history inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, died Friday at the age of 81.
Evans left an impressive legacy of love for refereeing and the sport that can enlighten anyone: he was a referee from 1973 to 2001 – 28 years!
Directed at least 1,969 regular season games in the North American Professional Basketball League (NBA), plus 170 playoff games, 35 league finals duels, and four All-Star Games. In total, the late Hugh Evans led… 2,178 meetings!
Inducted into the Hall of Fame on April 2 this year – for the third time, this was confirmed only in 2022, and his family will see the honor conferred on him, but posthumously, on September 9 and 10, in Springfield, Massachusetts – Evans was elected in the 1995 season /96 by coaches and officials the second best referee of that season.
The news of the death was confirmed by his widow Kathy to the American sports channel ESPN, without specifying the reasons.
After retiring from refereeing in 2001, Hugh Evans led NBA referee training for two games. He was also a member of the New York Basketball Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Hall of Fame.
“I still don’t quite understand the magnitude of this difference. I’m still considering this honor. Every time they tell me about it, I get goosebumps, I’m happy and tears well up in my eyes. Maybe it’s really special. God chose me to be special,” the late Evans said this year, in April, when his induction into the Naismith Hall of Fame was confirmed.
Evans was the second umpire in NBA history to come from a school (high school or university) dominated by people of color: the University of North Carolina. The trailblazer was Ken Hudson of Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, who umpired the NBA from 1968 to 1972. In the 2020/21 season, there were already 73.
“Yes, it was difficult to be accepted by coaches, players, fans and managers at the beginning of his career. They didn’t think we [negros] we could. And I was the first black person to referee the rounds above the 1st round playoffs. And did it to the end. After a while, everyone realized that “the guy is good, let’s give him space,” and everything went well,” Hugh Evans said with a clear conscience about racial emancipation and its greater role in the fight against racism at the same time. Andscape.com in 2021, regarding this other facet of the protagonist.
