48. Marc Davis Can’t Stop Watching Basketball — But He Doesn’t Care Who Wins

People I (Mostly) Admire

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2021

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

His childhood dream of playing in the N.B.A. led him to a career as a referee. Marc is one of the league’s top performers after over 20 seasons, but he still reviews every single one of his calls. He talks with Steve about being scrutinized by players, fans, and management; how much work — and data — go into being fair; and why he talks about race with his colleagues and his kids.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The 2021-2022 NBA season opened last week, and to mark that occasion, I'm interviewing
0:10.1	one of the sport's most respected referees.
0:13.1	My guest today, Mark Davis, has over 20 years of experience as an NBA referee, and he's
0:18.4	really good at it too.
0:20.1	The NBA uses quality metrics to decide which of its more than 70 referees are chosen to
0:24.8	referee the NBA finals.
0:26.8	Mark Davis was one of only 10 who made the cut this year, and it was the 10th season
0:31.3	that he's earned that honor.
0:34.0	Welcome to People I Mostly Admire, with Steve Levitt.
0:40.9	I met Mark four years ago, and I was so impressed by him.
0:44.4	We've only crossed paths a few times, but he's always had interesting things to say in
0:49.3	all sorts of topics, and he listens with a curiosity and intensity that's rare.
0:55.4	I've got a lot of questions to ask about refereeing, but my hope is that we'll get into
0:59.2	deeper issues of race and society as well.
1:02.5	The last time I talked with Mark happened to be a few days after the George Floyd video
1:06.0	had been released.
1:07.0	He had a lot of insights then, and I'm here to hear what he's thinking these days on
1:11.2	the topic.
1:13.2	So I'm guessing that as a kid growing up, you thought you'd be playing professional basketball
1:21.0	one day.
1:22.0	Is that right?
1:23.0	Yes, although in my wildest dreams, I never imagined I'd still be doing it in 53.
	...

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