Photo Credit: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images

Danny Crawford Retires After 31 Seasons

After 31 seasons, 23 consecutive NBA Finals, more than 2000 regular season games, over 300 playoff games, and more than 30 NBA Final games, NBA referee legend Danny Crawford has decided to hang up his whistle.

In an interview with USA Today, he talked about his decision:

“I left with gas in my tank. Could I have gone two more years? Yeah, I could’ve. But I looked at how many years I gave them and said, ‘When do you stop?’ You keep working this job and you can’t physically do it anymore. I didn’t want that. I wanted to leave with my gas in my tank and I wanted to leave in a positive way.”

Crawford was liked by players and coaches as he always listen to their complaints in a calm way. Players respected that, and rarely crossed the line. Last year, the L.A Times published a survey in which they asked players and coaches which referee was the best at what he does. Danny Crawford was the number one referee on that list.

Happy retirement ref, you’ll be missed.

Check out Crawford’s best mic’d up in-game moments. The scenes with Kobe are amazing.