“You Were Trying to Play Baseball”: Referee Tony Brothers Recalls Banter with Michael Jordan

While several personalities and egos collide during heated contests every time two teams step onto the floor, referees play the role of moderator. However, sometimes they can be in on the fun as well, moving out of their typical role of a boring authority figure. Referee Tony Brothers, one of the Association’s most senior members, is a good example of that.

In a clip uploaded by NBA Referees on Instagram from the NBA Referee Roundtable, Brothers can be seen recalling a moment of banter with Michael Jordan from back in the day. He revealed that when he first started officiating in the league, he believed that the league was “doomed.”

As per Brothers, who joined the league in 1994, MJ retiring to play baseball wasn’t very lucrative for the league. However, he was there to do his job, so he continued.

Brothers admitted that he has little to no control of what comes out of his mouth and it has been like that for a long time. So, when Jordan came back and asked pointing at Brothers, “Who’s the rookie?”, he didn’t try to be polite with his response. Brothers revealed, “I said, ‘Rookie? I was here last year when you were trying to play baseball.”

 

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The 60-year-old added that the league has come a long way in these 30 years, but he is the same person that he was in 1994. Several athletes in the league can attest to the fact that Brothers has not changed one bit.

Chandler Parsons once explained why Tony Brothers is different from others

In recent years, the NBA refs have been a topic of discussion regarding the kind of fouls they call and how it often seems like they take things personally. However, in that setup, Brothers serves as a great reminder of what the job should be all about. As per Chandler Parsons, Brothers has a great sense of humor and is fun to be around.

On an episode of Run It Back, he 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.”

Parsons admitted that a lot of players don’t like Brothers because of his personality, but it doesn’t take anything away from the veteran referee.