LOS ANGELES, CA (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Those watching the 2011 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night may have seen a familiar face patrolling the baseline, ready to blow the whistle if a monstrous dunk by LeBron James turned out to really be an offensive foul. New Jersey City University Athletics Hall of Famer BOB DELANEY, `85, served as the head official for the game played at the Staples Center. The Western Conference held on for a 148-143 victory over the Eastern Conference.
For Delaney, it was his second career All-Star Game as an official; he also refereed the 1998 game played at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Delaney, a 2006 inductee into the NJCU Athletics Hall of Fame, has served as a highly-regarded referee in the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 1987 after retiring from the New Jersey State Police. With the state police, he gained attention as an undercover state trooper involved in a long-term, deep-cover investigation targeting organized crime in the second half of the 1970's. In 2008, his remarkable life story was chronicled in the novel “COVERT, My Years Infiltrating The Mob.” Numerous newspaper articles and television stories have been conducted on the NJCU graduate's life, including features on ESPN and HBO Real Sports.
Now in his 24th season as an NBA referee, Delaney, who wears #26 on the court, has reached the pinnacle of his profession. He has officiated the NBA playoffs every year since 1988, appearing in the NBA Finals each season since 2000, except in 2009 when he suffered an injury. Delaney served on the National Basketball Referee Association Executive Board, the five-man group that heads up the officials union, from 1995-2002. In 2000, he received the NBA Officials Community Service Award, and in 2003, the prestigious National Association of Sports Officials Gold Whistle Award. He is the Director of The Officiating Academy, IMG-Bollettieri Academies, in Florida.
Over the past 20 years, Delaney has trained numerous officials who have since served in the NBA, WNBA, and NCAA. Prior to the NBA, he officiated in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for three years (1983-86).
Delaney was a former captain of the Gothic Knight men's basketball team during the 1971-72 season, serving as the sixth man for the 16-8 club. He played two seasons at then-Jersey City State College (1970-72), and one year of baseball (1972), before leaving school to enter the state police. Delaney, who current resides in Florida, testified before the United States Senate hearings on organized crime in 1981.
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