Question About A Signal Used By NBA Refs
 

Please excuse me. I'm not a ref.

I've seen the trailing NBA ref pat the top of his/her head when a team is running upcourt. Can someone tell me what this means other than "What a good boy am I?" :D :D :D

This could of meant a couple of things, so I am not sure what was going on it the game. Was time running off the clock? If so, he might have been signaling he has the last shot. Dont know.

I'm guessing he was letting the crew know he had the last shot. The only problem with this signal is that it also is the shot clock violation signal for NCAA/NBA so we're usually discouraged from using it for this. But then there is no official signal for letting your crew you have the last shot so usually we use whatever gets the point across to the rest of the crew.

I think in the NBA, the Center official has the last shot, which explains why NCAAW do it.

we sometimes use it at Lead and Center, in addition to Trail, to verify that ALL of us know the clock is under a minute and CENTER is ready to handle the last shot.

It means that they are under one minute in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters or under two minutes in the last quarter. This is when the clock stops after a made field goal in NBA rules. I assume they use it as a reminder.

Jay R has it right, but most guys don't pat their head (because of the shot clock signal), they swipe their hand back and forth. The person who has the last shot (which will take a little longer to explain who has the final shot) puts is hand in the air (usually with one finger up). They could also pat their chest for the last shot.

This happened last night in the 4th quarter of the Jazz/Warrior game, just as the clock went under 2 minutes. I didn't know this was the rule as I rarely ever watch the NBA, but I just happened to catch this particular play as I was channel surfing.