Tony Brothers is one of the few referees in the game who are well respected. In a time when conversations around NBA refs are mostly about criticizing them for wrong calls, Brothers stands out as a special individual. On the recent episode of Run It Back, a former teammate of James Harden’s from his Rockets days, Chandler Parsons, was asked if the 59-year-old is the “most fun ref” in the league. Based on his experience in the league, Parsons went on to explain what separates Brothers from the rest of the refs.
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Recently, a clip of Brothers went viral when he was asking Bennedict Mathurin to go to the bench, but in a comical way during the game against the Dallas Mavericks. After watching the clip on the show, Parsons was asked if, “He is the most fun ref as far as interacting with players?” Parsons said, “I think he is hilarious just because he’s got kind of a vulgar personality. I told him he looks like an angry bird one time, and he got like salty. And then he said, “Shut up. Go tell your daddy Trump I said hi.” We kinda had this banter that goes back and forth.”
Is Tony Brothers the most fun referee? @ChandlerParsons has had some funny moments with him. pic.twitter.com/he0oV9jhLc
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 6, 2024
Parsons said that even though a lot of players don’t like Brothers because of his personality, he is very fond of him for this very reason. For the 35-year-old it is important to have an open dialogue and Brothers is one of the few refs in the NBA who is open to such things. According to him, there are some advantages to having such a relationship with the referee as well. He said that when a player and a ref know each other like that, it gives the player some space to trash talk without worrying about being booked for it.
Despite the often foul reputation of officials in the NBA, Tony Brothers seems to be a rather reasonable referee, from what Parsons has chosen to say about him. There are many officials who avoid speaking to players completely, no matter what the context. However, the fact that Brothers seems to be one of the few open to having a conversation alone makes Tony Brothers a very rare kind of official.
Apart from Brothers, there are a few other NBA refs that Parsons is fond of. He said, “I like Zach Zarba. He is always complimenting my hair and my tan, which I love.”
Tony Brothers and Tyrese Haliburton had a hilarious encounter
During the 2024 All-Star game, Brothers and Tyrese Haliburton shared a special moment on the court. After a little banter with Haliburton, Brothers asked the NBA star to focus on his job. Before the 24-year-old could say anything in response, Brothers took the ball from his hands, saying “Let me show you”, and hilariously started doing his best imitation of Haliburton’s jump shot.
Brothers is also very popular with the fans because he responds to the noise that comes from the crowd. Once while he was declaring a challenge unsuccessful after review, the fans started booing him. In response, the 59-year-old gave the crowd the MJ shrug.
Brothers has been a referee in the NBA since the 1994-95 season. In that time, he has officiated over 1,700 regular season games, 186 playoff games, and 16 NBA Finals. Parsons isn’t the only one who is fond of brothers and his personality. The 59-year-old was voted the “Best ref” in the NBA by players. He received 28.8 percent of the 66 votes that were taken for the survey. Parson’s other favorite Zach Zarba was voted the second-best ref in the league.
