John Vanak " John Vanak " was a referee in the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association In 1969, when the upstart American Basketball Association was raiding the NBA for talent, Vanak, along with three other top NBA " lead " referees — Joe Gushue, Earl Strom and Norm Drucker - jumped to the ABA with multi-year contracts paying much higher salaries than NBA officials received.
ABA
Professional
…While he served as head of officials, the NBA lost four veteran officialsNorm Drucker, Joe Gushue, Earl Strom, and John Vanak to the rival American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1969 over salary and benefits.[20] At the time of transaction, Rudolph told Strom, "(Deputy Commissioner) Carl [...
John Vanak was a referee in the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association. In 1969, when the upstart American Basketball ...