Phil Major

If you happened to be in the stands for Friday night’s basketball games at Alba-Golden High School, yes, one of the referees was 7’2”, and yes, he is former NBA star Greg Ostertag.

Talk about giving back to the game. 

The man who once went up against Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and other Hall of Famers was there to toss up the tip to open the Lady Panther and Panther games.

About all he had to do was hold up the ball and drop it.

There aren’t many more thankless jobs than refereeing high school basketball games (I think it’s near the bottom of the list on how to win friends and influence people), but there he was.

He was not calling a 6A game in his former hometown near Dallas but at a consolidated 2A East Texas country school.

You can bet it isn’t for the money.

He earned millions in an 11-year NBA career as a shot-blocking big man.

If you want to learn more about the man he has become, I highly recommended the video on his website, especially the part about donating a kidney to save his sister’s life, which is the story behind one of his tattoos.

He now has a small ranch outside Mt. Vernon, and he and his wife have also invested heavily in helping to restore the downtown courthouse square there, which, like many in smaller Texas towns, had fallen on hard times.

He’s certainly not wearing a striped shirt and whistle for the spotlight.

He won a state championship at Duncanville High School, made the NCAA finals at the University of Kansas and played in back-to-back NBA finals as the victim of two of the last three championships won by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

Running up and down the court at the AGHS gym isn’t quite the same.

He’s apparently not using it to fill his time in retirement – again, referencing his website, he has plenty to keep him busy with a family, a small ranch and several businesses.

He’s no doubt welcomed among the officiating ranks. The growing shortage of officials has been widely reported, and having a fellow who no doubt needed little training had to be a blessing.

He’s had his share of well-documented run ins with them from the other side, which has to give him a great perspective.

There’s also the advantage that very few coaches can actually get in his face, at least without something to stand on. I’m guessing he probably doesn’t have to issue many technicals. And he likely sees things other refs might be blocked from viewing.

I’m sure he gets more than a few chuckles from some of the things he hears from the stands, given what he’s seen and heard in a basketball life that started when he was very young and growing like a weed up through the highest echelons of the sport.

It’s probably pretty rare for basketball fans to seek an autograph from the referee, but I’m guessing most would make an exception for a man who clearly loves the game that offered him such incredible opportunities.