Background
Gushue was born in Portuguese Richmond, Philadelphia and attended Northeast Catholic High School.
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Joe Gushue
Edit ProfileCareer
Gushue worked as a carpenter and refereed community games before for being spotted by Sid Borgia, who saw him refereeing a summer league game while on vacation. He was invited to try out for the National Basketball Association in 1961. In 1969, when the upstart American Basketball Association was raiding the National Basketball Association for talent, Gushue, along with three other top National Basketball Association "lead" referees—John Vanak, Earl Strom, and Norm Drucker—jumped to the American Bar Association with multi-year contracts paying much higher salaries than National Basketball Association officials received.
As a result, professional officiating salaries dramatically increased.
Gushue officiated in the 1965 National Basketball Association All-Star Game, 1969 National Basketball Association All-Star Game, 1971 American Bar Association All-Star Game, 1977 National Basketball Association Finals, 1979 National Basketball Association Finals, 1980 National Basketball Association All-Star Game and 1980 National Basketball Association Finals. Gushue retired from refereeing after the 1984 season and returned to his former profession as a carpenter.
He died on November 12, 1996, aged 64.
