Mike Mathis
Encyclopedia
Mike Mathis is a former professional basketball referee
in the National Basketball Association
(NBA) from 1976 to 2001. Over his career in the NBA, Mathis officiated nearly 2,340 games, including 12 NBA Finals
and three NBA All-Star Games. Mathis wore uniform number 13 during his career. Mathis is also the owner and Chief Executive Officer
of ProHoop Courts, Inc., which specializes in the installation of basketball goal systems and playing surfaces.
, and a veteran of the Vietnam War
. From 1967 to 1972, Mathis began officiating as a high school
basketball referee. In 1972, he worked college basketball
games in the Big Ten
, Mid-American
, and Ohio Valley Conference
s until being hired by the NBA in 1976.
and Milwaukee Bucks
at Western Michigan University
's University Arena
. Throughout the game, Mathis and referee Joe Gushue
called 15 technical foul
s and ejected five players, including Bulls' guard Jerry Sloan
, Chicago coach Dick Motta
, the Bucks' Swen Nater
, and Bulls' Artis Gilmore
.
to start the 1995–96 NBA season.
(IRS) investigation of cash received as a result of the sale of first-class airline tickets for less expensive ones. The IRS claimed this was additional income that went unreported. In 1997, Mathis was indicted for falsifying income on tax returns and immediately resigned from the NBA. The following year, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion
for understating income by $69,000 from 1989 through 1992. Mathis admitted to trading in first-class airline tickets provided by the NBA for cheaper, coach-class tickets and pocketing the difference and using several means to conceal income generated from downgrading seats, including obtaining bogus airline receipts and invoices from a travel agent in Denver, Colorado
. A few months after pleading guilty, Mathis was sentenced to 120 days of home confinement, three years of probation
, 200 hours of community service
, and a $2,000 fine.
reinstated Mathis and several other referees in January 1999 who were found guilty during the investigation. During his second stint in the NBA, Mathis officiated for two and a half seasons before retiring following a game played on December 16, 2001 in Seattle, Washington
. He closed out his career as Seattle SuperSonics
team officials at KeyArena
shined a spotlight on him during a timeout and spectators gave him a standing ovation
.
Mathis has been an outspoken critic of the NBA's evaluation system of referees and league supervisors following allegations that former NBA referee Tim Donaghy
was betting on league games. Mathis felt that only friends of league officials are hired to fill openings and the current supervisors are not qualified to do their jobs since he claims that "they were once referees, and they were fired. These are guys who should be teaching and training refs, but they have no business in those positions."
stated on TNT's Pregame show that Mike Mathis is the only NBA referee that did not want to get all of the calls right, all of the time. He also later stated that Mike Mathis was the worst official of all time. Mr. Barkley reiterated this point during halftime of the Marquette University
vs. Syracuse Orangemen NCAA Tournament basketball game on March 20, 2011, when he said that most professional and college referees were good at their jobs, with the sole exception of Mike Mathis.
Official (basketball)
In basketball, an official is a person who has the responsibility to enforce the rules and maintain the order of the game. The title of official also applies to the scorers and timekeepers, as well as other personnel that have an active task in maintaining the game...
in the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) from 1976 to 2001. Over his career in the NBA, Mathis officiated nearly 2,340 games, including 12 NBA Finals
NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....
and three NBA All-Star Games. Mathis wore uniform number 13 during his career. Mathis is also the owner and Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of ProHoop Courts, Inc., which specializes in the installation of basketball goal systems and playing surfaces.
Early life
Mathis is a graduate of St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and a veteran of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. From 1967 to 1972, Mathis began officiating as a high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
basketball referee. In 1972, he worked college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
games in the Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
, Mid-American
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...
, and Ohio Valley Conference
Ohio Valley Conference
The Ohio Valley Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the midwestern and southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Championship Subdivision , the lower of two levels of Division I...
s until being hired by the NBA in 1976.
First game
Mathis' first game in the NBA was memorable for involving a fight between the Chicago BullsChicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
and Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....
at Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
's University Arena
University Arena (Western Michigan University)
University Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Located in Read Fieldhouse, the arena opened in 1957 and is home to the Western Michigan University Broncos men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, and gymnastics teams...
. Throughout the game, Mathis and referee Joe Gushue
Joe Gushue
Joe Gushue was a highly respected referee in the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association.In 1969, when the upstart American Basketball Association was raiding the NBA for talent, Gushue, along with three other top NBA "lead" referees—John Vanak, Earl Strom, and Norm...
called 15 technical foul
Technical foul
In basketball, a technical foul is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between players on the court, or is a foul by a non-player. The most common technical foul is for unsportsmanlike conduct...
s and ejected five players, including Bulls' guard Jerry Sloan
Jerry Sloan
Gerald Eugene "Jerry" Sloan , is an American former National Basketball Association player and head coach, and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. NBA commissioner David Stern called Sloan "one of the greatest and most respected coaches in NBA history." Sloan had a career regular-season...
, Chicago coach Dick Motta
Dick Motta
John Richard "Dick" Motta is a former basketball coach whose career in the National Basketball Association spanned 25 years, and he continues to rank among the NBA's all-time top 10 in coaching victories....
, the Bucks' Swen Nater
Swen Nater
Swen Eric Nater is a retired Dutch professional basketball player, primarily in the ABA and NBA.-Basketball career:Nater helped John Wooden's UCLA Bruins win two NCAA titles....
, and Bulls' Artis Gilmore
Artis Gilmore
Artis Gilmore is a retired American Hall of Fame basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association...
.
NBA referees union leader
As his career progressed in the NBA, Mathis achieved greater influence among officials by serving on the executive committee of the NBA referees union from 1990 to 1997. During the period, he was involved in the negotiation of a new contract for referees, who went on strikeStrike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
to start the 1995–96 NBA season.
Airline ticket income investigation
During the late 1990s, many NBA referees became the target of an Internal Revenue ServiceInternal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
(IRS) investigation of cash received as a result of the sale of first-class airline tickets for less expensive ones. The IRS claimed this was additional income that went unreported. In 1997, Mathis was indicted for falsifying income on tax returns and immediately resigned from the NBA. The following year, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
for understating income by $69,000 from 1989 through 1992. Mathis admitted to trading in first-class airline tickets provided by the NBA for cheaper, coach-class tickets and pocketing the difference and using several means to conceal income generated from downgrading seats, including obtaining bogus airline receipts and invoices from a travel agent in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. A few months after pleading guilty, Mathis was sentenced to 120 days of home confinement, three years of probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
, 200 hours of community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
, and a $2,000 fine.
Return to the NBA
After nearly a two year hiatus from the NBA, Commissioner David SternDavid Stern
David Joel Stern is the commissioner of the National Basketball Association. He started with the Association in 1966 as an outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel, and became the league's Executive Vice President in 1980. He became Commissioner in 1984 succeeding Larry O'Brien...
reinstated Mathis and several other referees in January 1999 who were found guilty during the investigation. During his second stint in the NBA, Mathis officiated for two and a half seasons before retiring following a game played on December 16, 2001 in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. He closed out his career as Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
team officials at KeyArena
KeyArena
KeyArena at Seattle Center , is a multipurpose arena, in Seattle, Washington. It is located north of downtown in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, the Century 21 Exposition...
shined a spotlight on him during a timeout and spectators gave him a standing ovation
Standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim...
.
Post-NBA officiating career
Mathis returned to the Seattle area following retirement to serve as a team consultant for the SuperSonics on rules violations.Mathis has been an outspoken critic of the NBA's evaluation system of referees and league supervisors following allegations that former NBA referee Tim Donaghy
Tim Donaghy
Tim Donaghy is a former professional basketball referee who worked in the National Basketball Association for 13 seasons, from 1994 to 2007. During his career in the NBA, Donaghy officiated in 772 regular season games and 20 playoff games...
was betting on league games. Mathis felt that only friends of league officials are hired to fill openings and the current supervisors are not qualified to do their jobs since he claims that "they were once referees, and they were fired. These are guys who should be teaching and training refs, but they have no business in those positions."
Miscellaneous
On May 10, 2009, Charles BarkleyCharles Barkley
Charles Wade Barkley is a former American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards...
stated on TNT's Pregame show that Mike Mathis is the only NBA referee that did not want to get all of the calls right, all of the time. He also later stated that Mike Mathis was the worst official of all time. Mr. Barkley reiterated this point during halftime of the Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
vs. Syracuse Orangemen NCAA Tournament basketball game on March 20, 2011, when he said that most professional and college referees were good at their jobs, with the sole exception of Mike Mathis.