NBA selects Ashley Moyer-Gleich as first woman to ref men’s playoffs in 12 years

Just as regular season came to an end, Ashley Moyer-Gleich thought that naturally her campaign was over. However, for the first time in her career as a basketball referee, she’s been chosen as part of the NBA officials who will keep justice during the upcoming playoffs. 

She has become the first woman in 12 years to officiate a postseason contest, and only the second in league history to do so. The NBA gave out their list of 36 referees who will take part of Round 1 of the playoffs starting this weekend.

For Moyer-Gleich, this is still hard to believe. “It’s surreal,” she said. “It really is.” Now she joins Violet Palmer as the only other woman to be given this assignment, as she officiated in 9 playoff matches from 2006 to 2012.

Congratulations to Ashley Moyer-Gleich, Marat Kogut, and JT Orr who will all be making their NBA postseason debut during the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Moyer-Gleich becomes the second woman selected to officiate in the NBA Playoffs, joining Violet Palmer.

See all of the 2024 NBA… pic.twitter.com/AmIUm9y0hC

— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) April 18, 2024

The Pennsylvania native started out in basketball as a former Division II player at Millersville University. After this, Ashley dedicated herself to refereeing and was finally promoted to the full-time NBA officiating ranks in 2018. Now, she’s been in over 200 regular-season matches during her six campaigns.

Today, she’s one of three first-time playoffs selections, including Marat Kogut and J.T. Orr. “I worked four games as an alternate last year, so obviously, my goal was I wanted to be an alternate again because that’s just sustaining the growth that I’ve had in my career,” Moyer-Gleich said.

“And then to see my name on list of working floor officials … I mean, my mom was with me, she came with me on my last two games for a little trip, and to open that email and have her there with me and share that news, it was really quite amazing.”

Byron Spruell, NBA president of league operations, celebrated the new playoff recruits. “Congratulations to these 36 officials on the well-earned and prestigious honor of being selected to officiate in the NBA Playoffs,”he said. “We appreciate the professionalism, dedication and teamwork that our officiating staff displays on a daily basis throughout the season.”

Moyer-Gleich shares her thoughts on the honor of representing women on NBA floors and building her legacy

The list of first-round referees chosen by the league include important names such as Tony Brothers, Ray Acosta, Sean Corbin, Brent Barnaky, Scott Foster, Curtis Blair, Nick Buchert, James Capers, Kevin Cutler, Marc Davis, JB DeRosa, Mitchell Ervin, Tyler Ford, Brian Forte, and many more.

Ashley is proud to make this shortlist. “Just like playoffs are coveted, the white jacket is even more super-coveted,” she said. “Obviously that’s an aspiration and that’s a goal way far down the road.”

The NBA commonly trims the list to 12 referees as they approach the NBA Finals, and even though Moyer-Gleich isn’t there yet, she knows she is taking one step closer to her biggest dreams.

“And hopefully I can continue on the same trajectory, continue to increase my responsibility on the floor, maybe going from the referee to a crew chief at some point and then hopefully getting to the finals — the epitome of what we do. And whether I’m the first or not, I think just a female breaking through and getting that opportunity would be monumental,” Ashley expressed.