Ed T. Rush

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Ed T. Rush

Edward "Ed" T. Rush (born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a professional basketball referee from 1966 to 1998 in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 28 seasons and three seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA). Rush also served as the NBA's Director of Officiating from 1998 to 2004. During his career, he officiated 1,990 regular season, 247 playoff, and 32 NBA Finals games as well as five All-Star games (1971, 1980, 1985, 1991 and 1996), the 1987 McDonald’s Championship in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the 1991 McDonald’s Championship in Paris, France and the 1996 Japan Opening Games in Tokyo, Japan. He wore uniform number 4 throughout his career.

Prior to becoming an official, Rush worked as a teacher and football coach at Marple-Newtown High School in suburban Philadelphia from 1964 to 1967. A graduate of West Chester University in Pennsylvania in 1964, Rush played varsity football.

Rush was hired as a referee at the age of 24 by the NBA in 1966 where he spent eight seasons in the league before joining the ABA, but returning to the NBA three seasons later where he would finish his career. Ed was forced to retire at the end of the 1996-97 NBA season due to injuries and body wear associated with being an official for so many years. On June 1, 1998, Rush was appointed NBA Director of Officiating, succeeding Darrell Garretson who had served in the position since 1981. Rush also held the same position for the NBA's women's league, the WNBA.

Rush gained the most publicity in his career in the NBA when in 2001, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, angered over what he believed the lack of quality officiating, said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News,"Ed Rush might have been a great ref, but I wouldn't hire him to manage a Dairy Queen. His interest is not in the integrity of the game or improving the officiating. The No. 1 priority of Ed Rush is maintaining power. There's no question in my mind that [NBA commissioner] David Stern is not the most powerful man in the game. It's Ed Rush." Cuban was later fined $500,000 by the league for this statement.

Rush retired from his position of Director of Officiating in 2004 and was succeeded by Ronnie Nunn. Rush currently resides in Pennsylvania with his wife, Trudy, and currently serves as an assistant football coach for Bloomsburg University. Ed has four children and one grand-daughter. Outside of coaching, Rush is a national speaker for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a member of the Board of Directors for the Valley of the Sun YMCA, West Chester University’s Rams Athletics Association, and the National Association of Sports Officials.