Robert J. Delaney (born November 1, 1951) is a former undercover New Jersey

state trooper State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction ...

and

professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) who officiated from the

1987–88 NBA season The 1987–88 NBA season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight Championship, beating the Detroit Pistons in seven hard-fought games in the NBA Fina ...

up until the

2010–11 NBA season The 2010–11 NBA season was the 65th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 2011 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 20, 2011, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Chicago's Derrick Rose was named the 2010–11 NBA MVP. Th ...

. Beginning the

2006–07 NBA season The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The first NBA draft und ...

, Delaney had officiated in 1,182 regular season games, 120 playoff games, and seven

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

games. In addition, he was assigned to the 1998

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

. He wore the uniform number 26. Delaney is a 1985 graduate of

New Jersey City University New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, NJCU consists of the School of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, and College of Professional Studies a ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

. He is a 2006 inductee into NJCU's Athletics Hall of Fame. After finishing college, Delaney joined the

New Jersey State Police The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors. History The legislation for the creation o ...

. During the mid-1970s, Delaney worked as an undercover officer as part of an operation known as "Project Alpha". While serving as a police officer, Delaney was also a high school basketball referee in New Jersey from 1972 to 1982 and later officiated in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) for four years before being selected by scouts to officiate in the NBA, beginning in 1987. In the early 1980s, Delaney retired as a law enforcement officer and devoted full-time to becoming a basketball referee. In 2008, he wrote about his undercover experience in ''Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob'', with co-author Dave Scheiber. He completed a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

from

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...

. In August 2018, Delaney was given the newly created position of Special Advisor for Officiating Development and Performance by the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

. He will serve as a consultant to the officiating coordinators in each of the college conference's sports, as well as assist the men's and women's coordinators of basketball officials with training, development, and evaluation. On January 22, 2020, Delaney received the Theodore Roosevelt Award, the highest honor accorded by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

. In September 2021, Delaney joined the advisory board of the international organization

Awareness 360 Awareness 360 is a youth-led, voluntary, non-profit organization headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, co-founded by Bangladeshi youth leaders Shomy Hasan Chowdhury and Rijve Arefin in October 2014. The organization operates in 23 countries and ...

References

External links

Bob Delaney
National Basketball Referees Association
Never Be Average – Bob Delaney
National Basketball Referees Association (July 7, 2006). {{DEFAULTSORT:Delaney, Bob NBA referees Living people 1951 births American state police officers Sportspeople from Paterson, New Jersey New Jersey City University alumni Continental Basketball Association referees