Tommy Nuñez Sr., Phoenix native and NBA’s first Hispanic referee, dies
He was not on the list.
The basketball world is honoring a trailblazer who dedicated his life to the game. Tommy Nuñez Sr., who grew up in Phoenix and became the first Hispanic referee in the NBA in 1972, died Friday. He refereed for more than 30 years in the NBA before retiring in 2002.
Nuñez was born in Santa Maria, California on September 10,
1938, and was of Mexican American descent. In 1972 he was hired by the NBA and
became the first Hispanic to referee in any major sport. After 30 years of
reffing in the NBA, Tommy retired in 2002. Since retiring he put all his time
and energy into speaking to kids from coast to coast, organizing summer sports
camps, youth programs or directing his National Hispanic Basketball tournament.
He was the founder of the Tommy Núñez foundation. He was the father of former[1] NBA referee Tommy Núñez Jr.
Nuñez died on April 24, 2026, at the age of 87.
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