Greg Willard (November 5, 1958April 1, 2013) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) since 1988 and wore the uniform number 57. Willard officiated 1,515 regular season, 134 playoff, and three

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

games.

Early career

While attending

Long Beach State University California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

, Willard officiated football as a member of the Orange County Football Officials Association and worked as a high school basketball official before advancing to the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

where he spent four years. Willard also spent four years officiating basketball in college's PCAA (now Big West) and

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

(now Pac-12) conferences. Willard earned his Associate of Arts degree from

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a public community college in Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees, cert ...

NBA referee career

As the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

moved from a referee alignment of utilizing two-person officiating crews to that of a three-person crew in 1988, the League recruited top college and CBA officials to fill the new vacancies created by the officiating department's expansion, including Willard. The League previously experimented with three person mechanics during the

1978–79 NBA season The 1978–79 NBA season was the 33rd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Seattle SuperSonics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Washington Bullets 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals, a rematch of the previ ...

when officials went on strike in protest of the move. Willard officiated his 1,500th career regular season game during the 2011–12 NBA season.

Personal life

Since joining the NBA, Willard remained active with the Orange County Football Officials Associations as well as the Musical Youth Artist Repertory Theatre. He was a married father of three and was active in coaching local youth sports leagues. Willard resided in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

Cancer

After working 10 games during the

2012 NBA Playoffs The 2012 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2011–12 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeating the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thu ...

, Willard withdrew from his June 6, 2012 assignment, Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals between the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

and

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

, after being diagnosed as having

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

. It was his last assignment of the 2011–12 season. NBA officials working the

2012 NBA Finals The 2012 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2011–12 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeated the Western Conference champion O ...

wore a #57 patch on their jerseys to recognize Willard. Willard worked one game during the 2012–13 pre-season, a

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

vs.

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

contest at the

Honda Center The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

. Willard took a leave of absence during the 2012–13 season in order to continue receiving treatment. On October 20, 2012, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network ("PCAN") selected Willard as its Spirit of Hope Award recipient for displaying "tremendous courage and fortitude in coping with pancreatic cancer" and inspiring others to do the same. In honor of PCAN and Willard, NBA referees wore purple

awareness bracelets Gel bracelets (or jelly bracelets) are a type of wristband often made from silicone. Gel bracelets Gel bracelets usually have a rectangular or circular cross-section. They are stretchy and come in a variety of colors. They have been popular in ...

during the 2012–13 NBA season. Additionally, Willard was named honoree of the March 24, 2013 event "Cheers to a Cure" with proceeds benefiting PCAN and cancer research endeavors. Willard died on April 1, 2013, from pancreatic cancer. NBA officials wore a #57 patch on their jerseys for the remainder of the 2012–13 season in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Greg 1958 births 2013 deaths California State University, Long Beach alumni College men's basketball referees in the United States Continental Basketball Association referees Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from pancreatic cancer National Basketball Association referees Orange Coast College alumni Sportspeople from Pasadena, California Basketball people from California