Hugh Evans (basketball)

American basketball referee (1941–2022)

Hubert "Hugh" Evans (November 8, 1940 – July 8, 2022) was an American basketball referee in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 28 seasons. He worked 1,969 regular season NBA games and 35 NBA Finals games during his NBA officiating career from 1972 to 2001. He subsequently served as an assistant supervisor of officials in the NBA front office.

Evans was born in Squire, West Virginia, in 1940. He studied at North Carolina A&T State University, where he played basketball and baseball for the Aggies. After graduating, he was selected in the 12th round (80th overall) of the 1963 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks, becoming the third player from A&T to be drafted by an NBA team after Al Attles and Herbert Gray. However, Evans opted to pursue baseball and played several seasons in the minor leagues for the San Francisco Giants. During the 1995–96 NBA season, Evans was ranked the second best official in the league by coaches, general managers, and NBA Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations Rod Thorn. Evans wore the uniform number 25 during his career in the NBA.

After retiring as a referee in 2001, Evans became an assistant supervisor of NBA officials, a position he held till 2003. In April 2022, a few months before his death, he was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, to become one of six NBA referees at date honored in the hall.

Evans was married to Cathy until his death. Hugh had two children: Aaron and Todd. He later moved to the Atlanta metropolitan area. Evans died on the morning of July 8, 2022 from congestive heart failure.