As of September 2022, how many National Basketball Association (NBA) players have become NBA referees?

As of September 2022, three former National Basketball Association (NBA) players have been hired to be NBA referees. The three ex-NBA players who became referees include Bernie Fryer, Leon Wood, and Haywoode Workman. These men have now noted, "We have or had very successfully post basketball career jobs as NBA referees."

Workman (born January 23, 1966, Charlotte, North Carolina) became the third ex-NBA player to become an NBA referee, officiating from 2004–present. The the first two referees hired respectively were Fryer and Wood. Workman is today a person who is very actively working with the NBA league office to recruit other former NBA players and former college players to become referees. Workman is in his 13th year as a full-time referee after playing 41 games in the NBA from 1993–1999 for the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks.

Bernie Fryer (born December 25, 1949, Bellingham, Washington) was the Vice President and Director of Officials for the National Basketball Association until July 2008. He was a player in the NBA and American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1973 to 1975 before serving as a referee from 1978–2007.

Osie Leon Wood III (known as Leon Wood, born March 25, 1962, Columbia, South Carolina) was a former US NBA professional player from 1984–1991. A college All-American, he was a first round NBA draft pick, and both an Olympic and Pan-Am Games gold-medalist. He subsequently has had a career as an NBA referee, officiating since 1996–present.