Jack Nies (pronounced niece) (born November 11, 1937) is a retired

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) referee. Nies officiated 2,046 regular-season games throughout his 31-year career, and wore uniform number 35. In addition, Nies oversaw 150 playoff games, 10

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, two

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, a ...

s (

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

), and the 1987 Legends Classic. Internationally, he was part of the referee crew for the 1994 Mexico Challenge and the 1997 McDonald's Championship; 2007 Istanbul, Turkey; Malaga and Madrid Spain—NBA Preseason Games Nies retired from the NBA following the 2008–09 season.

Biography

Nies graduated from St. Peter's Preparatory School.D'Alessandro, Dave
"This ref is doubly grand"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'', April 15, 2008. Accessed November 2, 2016. "'That's a big number,' said Nies, a Jersey City native and St. Peter's Prep graduate.... And because he lived just down the street in Ocean Township, he was good enough that Holzman invited him back the next night, and the next, and the next." He led the school to a state championship in 1955, and was awarded an All-State selection. Nies then played basketball for

University of Saint Mary The University of Saint Mary (USM) is a private Catholic university in Leavenworth, Kansas, United States. It is sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, who established it in 1923 as Saint Mary College. Though it was originally a s ...

in Kansas before graduating in 1961 with a degree in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. Nies then moved back to New Jersey, and lived in

Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey Ocean Township is a township located in east central Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Jersey Shore. The township is a bedroom suburb of New York City. Ocean Township consists of three main unincorporated c ...

. He started refereeing high school basketball games while working as a

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

teacher in the local school district. He then officiated Eastern League games from 1971 until 1978, when he was hired by the NBA. Then-

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

coach

Red Holzman William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1967 to ...

helped by giving the league a letter of recommendation, having been impressed by his refereeing in a game he had seen in 1970. On April 15, 2008, Nies refereed his 2,000th NBA game as his home state

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

overcame a 20-point deficit against the

Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populous ...

112–108. On April 13, 2009, he officiated his last NBA game as the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

defeated the

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 ...

NBA Finals games worked

1997 NBA Finals 1997 Finals, Game 3 1998 NBA Finals 1998 Finals, Game 4 * 2000 Finals, Games 1 and 6 * 2001 Finals, Game 4 * 2002 Finals, Game 1 * 2003 Finals, Game 3 * 2004 Finals, Game 4 (Lead official) * 2005 Finals, Game 2 * 2006 Finals, Game 3

References

External links

Official profile
@ National Basketball Referees Association {{DEFAULTSORT:Nies, Jack 1937 births Living people National Basketball Association referees Sportspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey People from Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey St. Peter's Preparatory School alumni University of Saint Mary alumni