NBA referee Joey Crawford intended to retire after the season.
He didn’t quite make it that far.
Steve Aschburner of NBA.com:Crawford, the league’s senior official and one of the most recognizable and controversial referees in NBA history, has worked his last game.
Sidelined since November by recurring pain and arthritis in his right knee and recovering since surgery Dec. 4 on a meniscus tear in that knee, Crawford had hoped to return March 1 for what was left of his 39th and final NBA season and postseason. But his knee has not responded well enough to rehabilitation to allow that.
Crawford was a pretty good ref -- when he wasn’t too busy calling attention to himself, berating players and challenging Tim Duncan to a fight.
