Not a bad ref. He stays pretty true and the calls are pretty fair. He is sometimes is a little favoring. Also misses a few calls but it's just the age. Time for him to retire.

full of energy and interacts with players and coaches well. Even tempered.

Time for Dick to retire to Florida for the early bird specials

Yes, I did love that footrace against Barkley. But those were innocent days for Bavetta. I don't know what the ongoing investigation will turn up. Anyway, You can bet that if Barkley called up Bavetta instead of Dwayne Wade, he'd be getting those fluffy socks for his footsies.

Fair. Let's them play without getting out of hand. Doesn't call a lot of fouls, so teams that bang usually fare well when Bavetta refs.

I like him but he has a huge ego. He wants everybody to know that it's his league and he's callin' all the shots.

Dick works hard and loves his job but his declining ability as an NBA official has been very noticeable. You can go back to some of the worst games in the last few seasons, games that were too ugly to watch for many NBA fans. You want whistles and free throws galore? Two perfect examples jump in my head right away. Lakers @ Kings from earlier this season, and a 2006 1st round playoff game between the Nuggets and Clippers. In both examples you will see Dick blowing his whistle every two seconds, trying to completely control the game.....taking the NBA's freedom of movement rules to the extreme and really showing zero understanding for the concept of "minimal contact." Without any doubt in my mind, he is top 3 bad with Corbin and Tony Brothers.

How can you not love Dick Bavetta? The man is 95 years old and still runs up and down the court like a gazelle, having a great old time. He calls it a little tight for my taste, but he's consistent, he clearly understand the game, and he takes pride in his job. Great Ref. Here he is making out with NBA legend Charles Barkley.



Shot at 2007-07-25

This is that guy who looks old enough to tour with the Stones right?

I don't follow basketball real closely but this guy's always stood out as one of the better officials in the sport.

Seems like a pretty good official. His interactions with Charles Barkely resulted in some pretty entertaining segments during TNT basketball coverage last season. 

UPDATE: No actual change to my review, apparently I can't spell.