“If all I’m remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I’ve done a bad job with the rest of my life.”
As stated by Isiah Thomas, a great player never leaves his game unattended. Monty McCutchen is one of the many who stayed attached to the sports they love.
McCutchen is a former professional basketball referee and has been part of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since the 1993/94 season.
Now, the 58 years old is acting as the League Vice President of referee development and training.
As a VP, he oversees the day-to-day supervision and on-court performance of all officials.
Quick Facts:
| Full name | Monty McCutchen |
| Born date | Feb 14, 1966 |
| Age | 58 years old |
| Birthplace | San Angelo, Texas, United States |
| Wife | Not Known |
| Children | Not Known |
| Parents | Not known |
| Siblings | Not known |
| Profession | Basketball Referee |
| Known as | Monty McCutchen |
| Nickname | Not known |
| Nationality | American |
| Sexuality | Straight |
| Gender | Male |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Zodiac sign | Aquarius |
| Height | Not known |
| Body measurement | N/A |
| Weight | 170 lbs |
| Favorite holiday destination | Not known |
| Body build | Fit/slim |
| Eye color | Black |
| Hair color | Blonde |
| Shoe size | N/A |
| Dress size | N/A |
| Hobbies | Practicing her games, adventurous trips, reading, relaxation |
| Marital status | Married |
| Education | Bachelor’s degree in English Literature |
| Social media link | Instagram, Twitter |
| Net Worth | $1 million to $7 million |
| Position | Referee |
| Merch | NBA Jersey, NBA Shorts |
| Last Update | April, 2024 |
Monty McCutchen | Early Life, Family, and Education
Monty McCutchen was born on Feb 14, 1966, in San Angelo, Texas. The former basketball referee is 58 years old as of now.
Despite much digging, not much information was found on Monty, including his family and so on.
The former referee is known for keeping his personal life away from the prying eyes of the media.
Nonetheless, it is mentioned that Monty graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Speech Communication.
But the exact date of his education is still missing from the public sources.
Monty McCutchen | Professional Career
After 25 years as an NBA official, McCutchen took over his new job in December 2017.
McCutchen was a top-rated and well-respected referee in the league, having officiated over 1,400 regular-season games and 169 playoff games.
In records, Monty officiated 16 NBA Finals games, most recently Game 3 of the 2017 championship series. The match was between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors.
Likewise, McCutchen worked as a referee in the Continental Basketball Association for four seasons before entering the NBA.
He also officiated playoff games for all four seasons, including the CBA Finals in each of his last three.
Professional Experience | NBA Referee
NBA, without a doubt, shuffled its best ref off the court and into the league office.
The highest praise an NBA referee can earn after a game is that no one challenges their decisions.
It’s the pinnacle of the career to have that happen after Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
The success of Monty McCutchen, Dan Crawford, and Mike Callahan, the trio of referees who worked Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals — in which LeBron James eventually handed Cleveland its first pro sports championship in more than 50 years — received little coverage.
McCutchen grinned as he said,
“It took me about 14 days to come down from that. I can assure you of that.”
That Game 7 has come to reflect something else, i.e., the league’s refereeing center shifting.
Monty McCutchen | Retirement
Crawford retired after working at least one game in every NBA Finals since 1995.
Callahan is still an official. McCutchen is back in the Finals, but this time as a player rather than a referee.
As a league vice president, Monty is in charge of referee creation and training; he’s in his first playoff season.
Although it might seem counterintuitive to take the league’s top official off the court in his prime, President of League Operations Byron Spruell clarified that a “referee management overhaul” was needed when the decision was made in December.
The absence of longtime veterans like McCutchen and Crawford during the Finals has been felt on the court.
For the first time in the Finals, Ken Mauer and Marc Davis acted as crew chiefs, and David Guthrie worked his first game as a Finals referee in Game 2.
Building a stronger relationship between teams and referees is one aspect of the job.
Several high-profile incidents strained the relationship early in the season, including Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston’s head-butting referee Courtney Kirkland during a game.
However, the league, headed by McCutchen and Johnson, realized that doing so would necessitate more than just players approaching the officials.
Additionally, better communication with the players as needed. Over the last few months, McCutchen and Johnson have met with each of the 30 players and met with the referees to improve their communication.
So, while McCutchen’s on-court experience and willingness to convey it to current referees is critical, it modernizes the league’s assessment process.
Although many of these conversations were more anecdotal and conversational in the past, the league has been working to implement an electronic system that will allow all evaluations to be stored in one location.
All lead to the same conclusion: the league decided, headed by Spruell, that the structures in place were outdated.
Changes, major and minor, have been made over the last year, and improve that. However, it has been drastic as the decision to remove McCutchen from the game.
The NBA bet big on the league’s best referee’s potential to touch the entire refereeing center, rather than just acting as its best official, by removing him from the court and placing him in an office.
It’s impossible to say whether or not it would succeed in the short term.
Achievements
Over the past five seasons, McCutchen has officiated 1,181 regular-season games, 97 playoff games, and nine NBA Finals games.
Monty McCutchen | Personal Life, Wife and Marriage
Monty McCutchen, the NBA referee, is already engaged and married as of now and even has two children. He has a daughter and a son.
Likewise, his daughter is a rock climber, and his son runs cross country and plays basketball.
McCutchen’s family has always been strong support in his life, whether it be his off-the-court activities or personal Life.
He has begun his off-court activities even before the birth of his daughter.
Along with the pressure he has in his professional Life, Monty has always been a man of commitment toward his family.
Other than his work at the NBA, Monty has his family business of quilts. But he is not much into it.
Once, he took a quilt that featured 10,816 one-inch squares on an NBA road trip. His fellow referees teased him, asking when he would retire as he was already making quilts.
As of now, the former NBA referee lives with his family near Ashville, North Carolina.
Monty McCutchen | Hobbies
When Monty is not running around the players inside the court, it seems he is running around to capture the iconic scenarios.
In the offseason, he is an amateur photographer who is also interested in ranching.
One of the main reasons McCutchen is more inclined to photography is that as a referee, one has to capture the moments and openly interpret them based on a solid base of innate skills and knowledge of the procedure.
Moreover, Monty’s love for photography emerged back in 2003 when he took his first lessons in both collodions.
The platinum and palladium techniques helped balance his personal and hectic Life of being a referee in the NBA.
For those unknown, before basketball, he was a substitute teacher at Thomas Edison middle school in south-central Los Angeles.
Up opposite to the league’s and competition committee’s desire to apply those rules and consistently try to capture them in a meaningful manner.
The environment must help so that talent can be exposed.
Monty McCutchen | Life as a referee
No matter how many fans feel they should do a better job or that their “grandma should have made a better decision,” becoming an NBA referee is a more challenging job than many people believe.
Depending on the call of the night, they may be a team’s greatest hero or their worst nightmare.
To decide in a high-pressure atmosphere with 20,000 fans cheering, an NBA referee must be calm, strict, thoughtful, and aware.
Monty McCutchen is in charge of the NBA officiating program, which serves the NBA, WNBA, and NBA G League.
He oversees all officials’ day-to-day supervision and on-court performance.
Back in 2016, Monty McCutchen had an animated dispute with Russell Westbrook before Russell made his triple-double.
Apparently, they two had a little discussion about their father, as they went like this:
McCutchen: “You’re going to yell at me? You’re going to get yelled back.”
Westbrook: “I’ve got one, daddy, that’s it.”
McCutchen: “So do I.”
Westbrook: “I’ve got one pop.”
Monty McCutchen | Net Worth & Salary
Monty is listed as a successful Referee who was born in the year of 1966. He is also ranked on the wealthiest person list in the United States.
Monty McCutchen is reported to have a net worth of $1 million to $7 million. Thanks to his NBA career, Monty has amassed a sizable fortune from his primary profession as a referee.
Salary
An NBA referee’s annual salary ranges from $180,000 to $550,000. Because of the various statuses, a referee may hold, there is such a wide pay scale.
There are three different types of NBA referees. There are three types of referees: entry-level, WNBA, and senior-level.
The entry-level referee is considered a novice, and they earn around $600 per game or approximately $250,000 per year if they work full-time.
Likewise, a WNBA referee is the lowest-paid of the three classifications, earning about $425 per game or around $180,000 per year.
Monty McCutchen is now widely regarded as the greatest player in his class.
McCutchen has been a part of the NBA since his rookie season in 1993/94. He is now in his 21st season as an NBA official.
He’s called 1,181 regular-season games, 97 playoff games, and nine NBA Finals games, including the thrilling third game between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017.
A top NBA referee, such as McCutchen, is expected to receive about $550,000 per year as per his contract with the team.
Social Media Presence:
There is no record of the social media presence of Monty McCutchen.
Check out the tweet when Monty McCutchen was seen with big glasses. Click here!
Some FAQs:
Why was Monty McCutchen’s pandemic beard famous on Twitter?
Monty McCutchen had a long beard during the COVID-19 pandemic just for fun. His beard was quite long and unique, so it became quite famous on Twitter.
