Tony Brown, who officiated more than 1,100 NBA games over almost two decades, died at age 55 on Thursday after a fight with pancreatic cancer, his family announced.
The native of Tallahassee, Florida, was diagnosed after experiencing some stomach discomfort, which he initially attributed to what he thought was bad sushi. After more than a dozen rounds of intense chemotherapy, Brown was feeling well enough to return to work — with the blessing of his medical team, the NBA and his family.
A talented high school basketball player, Brown accepted a scholarship to Florida A&M before eventually deciding to transfer to what was then called Clark College — now Clark Atlanta University. No scholarship was available there for him, so Brown worked his way through school as an employee of Delta Air Lines. He cleaned planes, drove passenger carts, then became a flight attendant and remained employed by Delta until retiring in 2007.
“The most important part about this entire game, for us, is that we are representing the NBA officials and we have to do an outstanding job for them,” Brown told AP before that game. “Every night that we go on that floor we are representing each other. And that’s the greatest accolade and accomplishment that we can ever have, doing our job.”
Attorney Mawuli Davis, one of the primary organizers of the scholarship effort, said the family is still chasing the $100,000 goal and hopes to present a check for that amount to Clark Atlanta at its men's basketball season-opener Nov. 7.
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