Violet Palmer: The First Female All-Star NBA Referee

Violet Palmer left, Evan Turner complaining right

  Palmer, born in Compton, California has been officiating NBA games since 1997.  Seventeen years later she found herself at the 2014 NBA All-Star game, busting down yet another barrier for women.  At one point Palmer believed reaching the NBA was unattainable.  Satisfied with her current role at the time as a top officiator of women's college basketball, Palmer wasn't looking to make the leap, but the NBA was looking at her.  With little room in the NBA's active referee pool (62), she thought her initial phone call in 1995 from NBA Assistant Director of Officiating Adam Wade was a prank call from a friend of hers.  After two years of the NBA evaluating her in NBA Summer League games and other non regular season games, she was hired. Her first regular season action came quickly, refereeing the opening game of the season between the Dallas Mavericks and Vancouver Grizzlies.