Che Flores spent years becoming one of basketball's rising-star referees. Now, they say, "I feel like I have a responsibility to be who exactly I am without hiding anything."
they transferred from JuCo and walked onto a D1 basketball team (CSU Northridge) and ended up getting a full athletic scholarship
“When they graduated, their father was refereeing high school basketball games in east L.A. for about 50 bucks a game, and suggested they give it a try. Flores remembers telling him, “Hell no, I’m not wearing that zebra stripe.” But they didn’t want to go back to waiting tables at the Cheesecake Factory, which they’d done between college seasons. Their first assignments, in the early aughts, were high school games in San Gabriel.”
that same summer, they get invited to join a referee bootcamp: “We would come in and then every referee would assess every other referee, and we would all decide collectively who would move on and who would literally get voted off the island,” Flores says. “It was like Survivor with referees.”
Billy Kennedy, the veteran NBA ref, is at the camp and notices Flores, who then goes onto work NCAA, WNBA, and G League games.
by 2020 they ref the championship games for all 3 leagues, and eventually Monty McCutchen hires them to his NBA ref roster.
great story, some incredible experiences
Wonder if there were any hidden immunity idols played.
“You have received the Bennett Salvatore Legacy Advantage.
If you successfully rig a series for the commissioner, you’ll be guaranteed employment for life in the NBA.”
Become an NBA referee or wait tables at Cheesecake Factory is an insane ultimatum