Joe DeRosa (born April 9, 1957) is a referee for the National Basketball Association. He is in his 21st season as a referee and has officiated over 1,000 regular season games, 75 play-off games and 5 NBA Finals games. DeRosa, a native of North Canton, Ohio conducted officiating clinics in Venezuela and France.[1]
During game two of 2010 Eastern Conference Finals DeRosa was involved in an altercation with an Orlando Magic fan. The fan, Wyndham Vacation Ownership CEO Franz Hanning, was heckling him when DeRosa threw the game ball across the scorers' table at Hanning. The fan then threw the ball back at DeRosa, who had NBA security eject the fan. The NBA suspended him 1 game for the situation.[2]