Near the end of his long career as an NBA referee, Steve Javie took a summer vacation with his wife. They decided to burn his unholy amount of frequent-flier miles and Marriott points on a trip to Saint Thomas. He was thinking about retirement, and this seemed like an ideal place to settle down. Javie could play golf, hit the beach and live in a tropical paradise.
It did not quite work out that way. Instead he would spend the next seven years committing himself to Catholicism.
“The calling comes and you go, ‘Uh oh, I gotta listen,’ ” he said.
Javie officiated his last NBA game in 2011. He soon began studying at his local seminary. He was recently ordained as a deacon by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. And this unexpected turn of events is how he found himself in church one Sunday morning wearing elaborate vestments to deliver a homily. He began with a confession.
He Was the NBA’s Best Ref. Then He Went to a Catholic Seminary.