Officiating in the JBA
 

You may have heard about the JBA, the new basketball league that LaVar Ball created to be an alternative to the NCAA. Many players in the JBA are those who would be ineligible for the NCAA, and who would have to go to junior colleges to improve their grades, or athletes who are interested more in becoming professional athletes than getting an education. I would assume that the level of play in the JBA is between an upper-level varsity and D2 level of play, based on game videos.

Just like the NCAA, G-League, or NBA, the JBA needs officials to function. How does the hiring process work? Does the JBA have tryout camps, like the various collegiate (NCAA/NJCAA/NAIA) conferences, the NBA, and even the semi-pro ABA, or does it rely on local high school officials recommended by their assigners? I tried to contact the JBA about officiating through the email address provided on their website, but I did not receive a response.

If anyone has any information, I'd be interested to hear it. Maybe the JBA will become as viable a pipeline to the NBA for officials as it is for players.

As in completely unviable? Then I agree.

If the league is around more than one season I would be shocked. So I would not count on what was done to hire officials for this season as a gauge for how it is going to go further. I doubt seriously that this league is flying officials across the country to play games.

Peace

This league expects all officials to drive to and from all assignments, and insists that each woman official "stay in her lane" as she travels back and forth.

And all games might not pay a full fee to all officials, as in when a coach decides to pull his team off the floor early to protest the perceived quality of officiating.

:D

Never heard of it, and I wouldn't trust it.

This sentence should be in blue font: "Maybe the JBA will become as viable a pipeline to the NBA for officials as it is for players."

If I refereed JBA games, I'd insist on getting paid in cash and in advance.

Why would anyone want to work in a league run by that yahoo?

Don't hold your breath on making any strides in your career through this league. Matter of fact, I wouldn't hold your breath on getting paid for your games worked, either.

Good idea! I thought NBA mechanics = good practice for G-League camp, but if it is a shitshow, I'd rather work high school ball and D3 before trying out for G-League camp.

Says the 3rd year official.

Yup. He's the guy that's just going to skip the experience part of gaining experience.

I mean if JBA is a shitshow, I'll go the traditional route of gaining experience (HS, JuCo, D3, D2, D1, G-League, NBA, maybe pro-am after I have some college under my belt). If I'm picked up to the G-League earlier, great. If not, I'l work my way all the way up through D1 and March Madness

You come across as so clueless that it's laughable.
First, I used to officiate in MD. When I was there, officials were probationary members and not eligible for varsity assignments during their first two years. This means that you likely have very little HS varsity experience, if any, at this point. For you to be talking about levels beyond that as if you know what occurs there is comical to the veterans on this forum.
Secondly, most of the NBA officials do not come from the D1 ranks. Rather they are young guys who have reached Juco, NAIA, D3, and then decided to persue the pro game. Few of the experienced D1 officials who work the ESPN games or the Final Four transfer over to the NBA. There is currently some overlap of people working the G-league and D1, but not a high number.

People on here might take you seriously if you spent some time doing research into what you wish to achieve. Many have walked that path before you.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, you need to slow down. Way down. As everyone on this forum is telling you.

Hope you have a solid Plan B for your career. There are a lot of officials that put all their eggs into making the pros and then when the bottom falls out (as it does for most prospects because spots are limited) or life happens, they have nothing to fall back on.

You will eventually get a tough reality check if you don't change your approach and start figuring things out on your own.

If you notice the G-League and Summer League officials, most of them are young and do not have any D1 experience. You need to get your focus off where you hope to be and concentrate on where you are and how to get to the next step. That step is getting regular HS varsity games and getting noticed at camp.

That's it. Big picture ambitions are great, but you spend too much time trying to get the details down for making the Final Four and NBA, which takes away from the details of improving your current officiating and mastering your current rule set(s).

You are not going to get any of that experience you talk about unless you get hired by those particular levels. And if you act the way you do here, that is not likely to happen either. Not because you want to work it, but you do not listen to simple advice from the people on this site. One of the biggest things to get to any of those levels is to be teachable and listen to the advice given and not saying anything when it is given. If you always know everything as you act here, none of that is going to happen. Officials in those situations are not trying to tell everyone about their experience, especially at high school or lower level. I have been to many college or higher level camps, I almost never talk about my high school experience at them unless directly asked and a clinician or supervisor wants context. I am a state final official and even work college in other levels and that background never is mentioned by me because they do not care.

The JBA is like the CBA or ABA (the newer one) that hires officials often relatively locally so that they can work for that particular league. Some guys worked the JBA for example in Chicago and they were local guys. They did not send them to LA or Texas from my understanding to work for this league. And those officials are not necessarily in the pipeline for the NBA. They are guys that have been considered at one point and their time has passed for realistic consideration. And based on what we have seen so far about this league, it might not be around in a year or two.

Peace

To answer your question, since everybody else here wants to be holier than thou high school state final officials (who gives a damn) every time you try to ask a question:

Since there are so few games in the league (JBA), they have been assigned by "bigger name" officials in the area near the host city, to guys that have more experience. The pay is $500/game, and they are one off assignments (not try out to get on the staff roster or anything like that).

To other points - keep being excited about officiating, have a plan, and in that plan, have a way you are going to accomplish each step. Don't worry about people shooting you down for asking questions, but also be wary as coming off as a know-it-all.

Keep asking questions and trying to learn.

Stop.

No one is shooting him down for asking questions. People are advising him that he's getting too far ahead of himself and coming across as arrogant/clueless.

You can be excited about officiating without having every detail spelled out for you or listing all your accomplishments when you have limited, if any, varsity experience. And if you don't want to listen to what veteran officials have to say, keep quiet or move on. Don't keep questioning everything and asking for more detail.

The only one being holier-than-thou is yourself.

If you don't want to answer questions about details .........................

........... don't reply.

It's not a matter of want–it's a matter of teaching a man to fish and sharing "tough love" perspectives based on experience. I fail to see how this is holier-than-thou in any way.

Given that you're the only one that seems to have an issue with the responses to this poster, I'm pretty comfortable with my position.

You are actually right, but that is also not the point. He has specifically taken comments from others and asked questions of them based on their comments. Now if that is the case, we have the right to not only respond but get into a dialog about the situation. And if you are asking a question and the main people on this site are getting frustrated with his or your arrogance in having a retort for every comment, then that is why the response is the way it is. Honestly, I could give a damn. Been here long enough and see a lot of fo people on this site make all kinds of claims of what they are going to do to what they think others do not know. I have no problem sharing my perspective so that others do not make similar mistakes I made. On many levels, I was this guy almost 20 years ago. And in that process I have met many, many from this site or that know exactly who I am. We are not only addressing his questions but telling him what is best to proceed. If we did not want to answer the questions we would not say anything. There are many people here that say nothing for a reason. Many of us are trying to help. Take it or leave it. That is also a lesson you learn as an official. You do not have to take everyone's opinion to heart. But it is better if you just say that to yourself and not those that are talking to you directly.

Peace

When I first started going to camps, this was a tough lesson for me to learn. Putting on the stripes, whether in a camp setting or for a game (at any level) opens you up for constant criticism and critique. Some of it will be good and some of it not so much, but learning to take it without being defensive (i.e., silently) and then sort out the useful is something we all have to learn at some point ... especially if we want to move up.

Just What Makes That Little Ole Ant ...
 

I can tell you from experience making it to the NCAA level of officiating isn't easy. It may appear so for some but you don't know their circumstances, and you most likely don't have what they have (be it connection, skills, knowledge, etc.).

I was 2 years (almost 13 total) into officiating in NY State when I went to a D2 and JUCO assignors tryout. He called me in to work a couple games he assigned in a local HS summer league and picked me up. I worked for him for 2 years before I hung it all up last year. I did about 8 JUCO/D3, and a couple D2 games. It was fun but it was a grind (long travel, many hours commitment per game day).

I also went to a D1 tryout camp and heard what I expected. I needed to lose some weight and that was the really the main reason I was passed over. Between a full time job, family (2 young kids), a business my wife and I run I had to give something up. If getting to D1 was/is a priority I would need to get in shape (about 1 year) and then about another year of proving at camps and assignor tryouts but I think it was possible. Also my age was getting to also be a factor so I don't have much time to mess around if that's what I wanted.

I could have made it to the NCAA level earlier but I was a bit headstrong and very stubborn and it took me a few years to actually listen to advice. Although I was humble in a lot of things in life, for some reason as an official that humility came a bit later (probably in my late 20's).

I guarantee if you look to far down the road from where you actually are, you wont pay the time necessary to get better in your current state and allow yourself to progress when the time is right.

In the end there is no shortage of a need for capable officials from one level or "league" after another. However the real path is HS-->D3/D2-->D1 OR alternatively NBA or BUST. I would pick the first path anyday of the week. It's more fun and more opportunity. However there is no shortage of officials that want that too.

In the end about half the advice you hear at camp is BS, the other half is useful. Figure out the half you need. Also not all clinicians are good. Know who the good ones are and learn from them. Finally you need to gain the trust of the assignor and his/her close advisors (usually other officials) as he/she will lean on them in evaluations.

I also did all this with very little HS playoff experience too, so you don't need that under your belt. What is most important for any official is getting to work in games that count with weird scenarios that come up (fights, flagrants, intentional fouls, tough coaches, trouble kids, scoring/timing mistakes). The more comfortable you are in real world application of the rules the better you will be. You also need a decent grasp of the rules. You don't have to be a master, but you need a rule master on your crew (if that makes sense).

ALL great advice.

I find it difficult to believe that officials will be supported working for Lavar Ball.

A little while ago I emailed them through their website and asked how they select officials. If I ever hear back from them, I'll let you know.

Hot Single Moms ???
 

Thinking about getting back on the court, or just trying to sell some "technical foul ejection insurance"?

College Bound ...
 

Let's put aside the fact that Lavar Ball is an idiot blowhard helicopter parent for a few minutes.

https://sports.yahoo.com/lavar-ball-...221831199.html

Some kids, for whatever reason, just aren't academically college bound. If they are a truly gifted basketball player, this league my be the starting point of a successful career.

Liken it to a kid who decides to skip college to become an apprentice electrician, or an apprentice plumber, many whom go on to a long, financially successful career.

Of course, there are more plumbing jobs, and electrician jobs, out there than there are jobs in professional basketball.

College isn't for everybody. 30% of college freshmen drop out after their first year of college, including athletes and nonathletes.

That being said, if some "borderline academically college material" players decide to go the JBA route, and get injured, or don't make it to the professional level, without a college education behind them, they will be at a financial disadvantage the rest of their lives.

Factor in that the average length of a career in the NBA is just 4.6 years, and that 60 percent of NBA players are broke or under financial stress within five years of retirement, makes skipping college a risky proposition for many, but not all.

The formula of gifted high school athlete going to college, gaining competitive experience, allowing professional scouts to see his potential, getting one to four years of a college education under his belt, and going onto a professional basketball career, sometimes overseas, works for many, but not for all, especially for those who just aren't academically cut out for college, for whatever reason.

Giving up one's amateur college eligibility is a big risk for these young high school athletes. A good risk for some, a disastrous risk for others.

There's got to be some value in leagues like the JBA? Is a college degree, two year, or four year, or a few years of college with no degree, absolutely necessary for all in our modern society?

Full disclosure. I have a post graduate college degree, as do all three of my children, two with doctorates. None of them were gifted basketball players (although two of them received undergraduate scholarship money based on their athletic ability in other sports). My son-in-law has a one year "certificate" from a technical institute, and has a very successful career as an electrician. Also, I live in a state where we have many job opening in the manufacturing industries of submarines, jet engines, and helicopters, that are unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers, despite a robust state technical high school system. We have too many college graduates that are unemployed, or underemployed. It's difficult for English majors to find work, but easy for skilled welders, and skilled pipe fitters, to find work, and there are lots of apprentice programs (earn and learn) out there. Back in the mid-twentieth century parents wanted their kids to graduate from high school, assuring a successful life. Today, many parents believe that a college education will assure a successful life, and that their kids must attend college, even if their kids aren't academically prepared for college, or if their kids aren't interested a career that requires a college degree.

I can't get back on the court because of my heart surgery, but that doesn't stop me from going to games and checking out all the hot moms. Of course, I'm in no condition to do anything with any of them :(

Big Bad John (Jimmy Dean, 1961) ...
 

With your transplanted pig's heart you can be spokesman for Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage.

https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.-...=0&w=412&h=165

If you knew anything about me, you would know I don't have anything to do with pork (or shellfish).

When I saw your pork sausage in a post aimed at me, I shouted "OY VEY"!

With Apologies to Gomez Addams ...
 

Mark Padgett, I love it when you speak French!