Ref Ed Rush: More NBA Time Than Jordan
Updated: Sep 21
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What does our guest have in common with Dennis Rodman? Plus, he'll put to rest the controversy that arose in 2013. You'll hear those story and much more.
This guy has been up close and personal with every NBA legend in the game. With a whistle and a pair of court shoes, Ed Rush has been up and down the basketball court more times than any of America's great players, with 2500 games under his belt. He was an officiating mainstay in the NBA for 32 years including several years as the director of officiating.
Ed's had a truly Amazing career and more importantly, he's a devout follower of Jesus that started in a car ride from Vancouver to Seattle. It's all in the next few minutes as we dive deep into the life of Ed Rush.
For the video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/3xQkw5cTaqs
For details on Court Club Elite: https://www.courtclubelite.com/
For another video with NBA notable; James Donaldson: https://www.amazinggreats.net/post/nba-star-james-donaldson-from-the-brink-of-suicide
For Similar amazing stories about the grace of God: https://www.amazinggreats.net
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ED RUSH AT A GLANCE
Former NBA referee and officiating executive • 32-year NBA career • Christian mentor and founder of Court Club
Topics
NBA officiating • Dennis Rodman • Michael Jordan • Seattle basketball • referee training • faith • George Tolls • Norm Evans • Court Club • discipleship • loss and grief
His Faith Journey
Presbyterian upbringing → Faith as knowledge rather than relationship → Soul-searching and discontent → Gospel shared by George Tolls and Norm Evans → Encounter with the Holy Spirit → Personal relationship with Jesus → Discipleship, ministry and helping others
This Episode Explores
Ed Rush's 32-year NBA officiating career
Working with basketball legends
Dennis Rodman and finding common ground
Respect between players and officials
Seven surgeries and the evolution of sports training
The $75-a-game beginning of his NBA career
Why professional distance mattered between referees and players
The controversial Pac-12 locker-room incident
How Court Club became a ministry
Ed Rush's October 5, 1979 encounter with Jesus
Losing his son and finding God's comfort
Using relationships and experience to help other referees
Questions Answered
How did Ed Rush become an NBA referee?
What was it like officiating basketball legends?
How did Ed Rush handle Dennis Rodman?
What made players like Michael Jordan and Julius Erving different?
What did NBA referees earn in the 1960s?
Why did Ed Rush leave the court?
What happened in the Pac-12 locker room?
What is Court Club Elite?
How did Ed Rush come to faith in Jesus?
Who helped lead Ed Rush to Christ?
How did Ed Rush respond to losing his son?
How does Ed Rush use his experience to help other officials?
Core Story
Ed Rush spent 32 years officiating at the highest level of basketball, working with generations of NBA stars and eventually helping oversee league officiating. But his most significant transformation happened off the court. In 1979, conversations with George Tolls and Norm Evans led Ed to understand Christianity as a personal relationship with Jesus. His faith later shaped how he handled conflict, career changes, ministry, grief and his desire to help others.
Ed Rush: NBA Officiating, Faith, Dennis Rodman & Finding God’s Purpose
Amazing Greats with Ric Hansen
The NBA Referee Who Saw It All
Ric Hansen:Hey, hi there, Ric Hansen here with the Amazing Greats Podcast. Our purpose is to deep dive into the life and career stories of famous athletes, authors, actors, musicians, and business leaders—but most importantly, to hear about their powerful walk with Jesus, as well as to share in real time how God is working in their lives right now.
In Season 2, Episode 32, we hear from a guy who's been in more basketball arenas and spent more time on a basketball court than even the most seasoned NBA players. He's been up close and personal with every basketball legend in the game.
I have the distinct privilege today of talking with literally a legend in his career—someone who has probably spent more time on a basketball court than any basketball player ever did. And he not only was on the court, but he was kind of the boss. He was in charge of all of the major things that happened.
We're talking today with Ed Rush.
Ed joined the NBA as a referee in 1966 at the age of 24, the youngest age for an NBA referee at that time. He had a 32-year career in the sport, including refereeing 2,000 regular-season games, close to 400 playoff games, and 32 Finals games.
Ed Rush, welcome.
Ed Rush:Thanks, Ric. You know, I've heard a lot of great things about Amazing Greats. I saw some of your interviews. You're doing great stuff.
So anything I can do to contribute. I don't know about the legend part. That would be maybe in a few people's minds—maybe my kids. But it's nice to hear from you and nice to be with you.
Growing Up a Sports Fan
Ric Hansen:Great, great, great. So let's talk about what an amazing adventure that has been on the court.
You were on the basketball court with the biggest and greatest basketball players in the world of all time—guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Spencer Haywood, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan.
What was that like?
Ed Rush:Well, I'm surprised you didn't give a bunch of the Sonics' names.
I did spend a lot of time in Seattle.
Let me say this. I grew up as a sports fan. I was really connected to sports, my peers, the community I was in. We were always playing or going to ball games.
I was a really big football fan. I was a really big baseball guy. I loved basketball, but I was not a very good player.
At the age of 14, a gentleman by the name of Ken Truscott, who had a lot to do with leading me to Christ, said, "Hey, you know, come over here. I don't want you to play, but I'll give you $10 every Saturday. You come referee these kids' games."
So I got out there and started working. This metal whistle made my mouth hurt, and at the end of the day I got the $10. But that wasn't it. It was like, "Wow, that was fun."
I really got hooked at an early age.
When I went to college, I continued to work and then worked for the high school and the small college level. When I got out of college, I was coaching football. That was my true love.
I can't say that I was ever really an overwhelmingly passionate fan of basketball. I respected the game. I respected the athletes, but I was never in awe.
If you were to ask me about Walter Payton, I would say with him I was in awe. I was a big Eagles fan growing up in Philadelphia. The football players were guys I looked at and said, "Wow." The baseball players, being in Philly all those years with great guys like Mike Schmidt, I was somewhat in awe.
Wilt Chamberlain was a wonderful guy, a great athlete, and a guy I enjoyed being around. But I was not in awe of him.
I had a job to do, and I was able to focus on my job without saying, "Oh, that's Wilt Chamberlain."
Now, training referees today, we have to take the ballplayer or the fan out of them in some cases so that they can get themselves to that place where they don't feel like, "Oh boy, who is that?"
There has to be a respect, a mutual respect, that you develop. It doesn't come if you're looking at somebody as being above you.
Dennis Rodman: From Conflict to Common Ground
Ric Hansen:Can you remember any times where there was controversy on the court with one of the well-respected basketball players? Something that kind of exploded on the court?
Who were the most contentious basketball players?
Ed Rush:I've had that question asked many times.
My list is short because I came into the league when I was 24. We only had 10 teams and only 10 players per team. Travel was mostly by train. These arenas that were 12,000 or 14,000 seats, by today's standards, were like minor league.
During that time, it was like family. There wasn't the emotional pushback that unfortunately you see today on TV more than you should.
But as the league grew and the money became greater, the pressures became greater, and we had more of that.
The one person who stands out would be Dennis Rodman.
He was an on-the-edge guy. The thing about him is that he played with incredible aggression and passion. He played hard every possession, but there were times when he would misdirect his aggression toward the officials.
That was something we had to rein in. We had boundaries, and many, many times he went over the boundary.
He and I consistently locked horns. Fortunately for me, I was in a position where if he didn't want to be in compliance, then he could leave.
And that happened many times.
I showed him where to go, the door was over there, and we'd see him again. Goodbye.
But it bothered me because I thought, "This kid is a really, really passionate young man." I knew he had his challenges in life. I knew his coach very well, Chuck Daly.
I thought, "There's got to be a better way for me to communicate other than saying, 'Dennis, you've got to stop that.'"
I actually started to pray about this.
I had a game in Denver, and I had the TV on during the day. All of a sudden Dennis showed up with his midday person, and they were talking about asthma, which he had.
I thought, "Oh, I didn't know he had asthma. I do too."
All of a sudden he started talking about how he handled the altitude in Denver with asthma. That was the whole theme. He was talking about his inhalers and taking them on the court.
I thought, "Wow, there's a common ground there."
I carried one of those things out to the court every game, and especially in Denver, you had to use it.
During the game, we had a play. Dennis was standing at the free-throw line and I was standing right next to him.
He started, "Yo, Ed—"
Before he could say anything, I said, "Dennis, how you doing? I saw you on TV today. That was great. Boy, I really enjoyed that."
I told him I was asthmatic also and started telling him about a new medication my doctor had given me.
"This stuff is phenomenal, Dennis."
We went back and forth. We shot the free throw, went to the other end, came back again. He walked over and said, "Hey, make sure you let me know about that."
I said, "Oh, yeah, I'll do that."
I got him the information and sent it to him.
After that it was, "Hey, Ed, how you doing? How are the lungs today? How you feeling?"
So we found that common ground, and we got off the contentiousness of whether he was getting the shaft or not.
After that, he didn't think I was out to get him anymore.
Ric Hansen:More like, "Hey, Ed had something to help me. He's not the bad guy."
Ed Rush:Exactly.
He always thought we were out to get him. But we found a common ground.
The Sweethearts of the NBA
Ric Hansen:Who was the sweetheart of the NBA?
Ed Rush:I'll give you three. I wasn't anticipating this question.
One was one of your guys in Seattle—Jack Sikma, as well as downtown Freddie Brown. They were great communicators. If they had an issue, they would ask you about it.
The other was Julius Erving, and I would put Michael Jordan in that category also.
What's the common thread?
Those individuals, despite competing at a very high level and knowing that decisions we were making affected them, had an underlying foundation of respect for the officiating community.
They knew the challenges we had, and we knew they knew we weren't going to get them all right.
There was a level of understanding.
You could say to them, "I think you're right. I missed that call."
And that would be fine. End of conversation.
"Hey, don't worry about it. It's okay."
That was the kind of communication you had with those individuals.
There were a lot of them in the league, simply because of the type of character people have to have to get to the league.
These are the best of the best, and it was a privilege to be out there with them.
Seven Back Surgeries and the Evolution of Training
Ric Hansen:What about the physicalness of the game? You're the only one who's on the court the whole time, game after game.
I had no idea—and I did my research—that you had asthma.
How did you build up your resistance and exercise in other ways? Or was all your exercise on the court?
Ed Rush:If people on this podcast would know about training in the '60s, they would know that it doesn't really come close to resembling training today.
Flexibility work was rarely heard about.
It was basically: lift some weight, do some sprints, run some distances.
What I was doing during that time was really counteractive to a long career because I was shortening my hamstrings without doing the stuff that lengthens them.
You go to a game today and get there early, and you see the players on the floor with the trainers and sports-science people, with bands being stretched out.
Well, that was nonexistent then.
As a result, I developed a backside that really wasn't as functional as it should have been.
At the end of the '70s, in 1979, I had a disc and painful lower-back surgery.
The surgeries then—they opened you up big time. I was out for a little while.
That led to another surgery.
I've had seven altogether.
I look back and think that if I had done a better job of body maintenance and flexibility training, I may not have had to go through that.
Maintaining Professional Distance
Ric Hansen:Did you spend time off the court with the stars of the game? Go out to dinner with them or have a beer or anything?
Ed Rush:No. That would be a serious no-no.
We had to maintain a professional distance.
If the Boston Celtics were playing the Los Angeles Lakers and the Celtics heard that I had dinner with Magic Johnson, there would be rampant paranoia.
We can't give even the illusion of that.
There's none of this arm around a guy or hugging him professionally.
But it all changes when they retire.
When guys retire, you run into them, you see them. I've got a lot of Facebook friends who are former players.
That's different because they don't have anything to gain, and I don't have anything to give them or take away.
When you're on the court and you're part of that, you have to make sure you maintain a professional distance.
Handling the Emotional Pressure of Officiating
Ric Hansen:At every game, with every call, some people love you and some people hate you.
You kind of always lived with that negative side of it. You can never really win with a call because there's going to be opposition to everyone.
How did you deal with that emotionally?
Ed Rush:You might be surprised at this answer, but what happened outside the lines was something we rarely heard.
It's like a mass of voices. You don't hear individual voices unless there aren't very many people in the stands.
When there's a wall-to-wall packed house every night in Seattle, you don't really hear anything that's going on up there.
From an emotional standpoint, it's more about what we call mistake-recovery strategy and staying focused—one possession at a time—not allowing one mistake to lead to another mistake.
That's all within the lines.
Outside the lines, there's really no influence on that at all.
The NBA's $75-a-Game Beginning
Ric Hansen:Let's jump back to your first job with the NBA as a referee. I heard the salary at that point was huge.
As an aside, tell us what you were making as the new guy with the NBA.
Ed Rush:My first year, I was 24. I was teaching school and coaching football, so this was a part-time gig. I just went occasionally to a game.
They gave me a whopping sum of $75 a game, and then I was able to fill out a little thing for my expenses.
That was fun. I was 24 and seeing the country.
The next year, the commissioner asked me to come in and said, "We'd like you to work full-time for us."
He said, "I'm going to guarantee you $6,000."
It was basically $100 a game, 60 games.
I quickly did the calculation. I was making $5,000 teaching school and $500 coaching football.
So I thought, "This is good. I got a $500-a-year raise, and I get to see the country."
That was the first full-time deal—$100 a game, $6,000 for the season.
I was happy as the Lord.
Life on the Road
Ric Hansen:That had to be a great experience—and also an experience that could be a little distracting from home life. At that point you were pretty much single during those years, right?
Ed Rush:For referees and umpires, it's really challenging. They have to have a strong spouse, somebody who really buys in.
Today, I'm close with a lot of the younger referees, guys with young families. They come in as a family. The wives are partners.
The difference today is that you have FaceTime. You can put the kids to bed. You can use Zoom.
I know a lot of guys who connect with their family every night. On an off night on the road, they're virtually getting together with the family.
That really makes a big difference.
From Referee to NBA Officiating Executive
Ric Hansen:In 1998 your career shifted because that was the year you were put in charge of officiating in the NBA.
Did that take you out of the game itself?
Ed Rush:Yes. You could not do both.
What took me off the court was back surgery number four or five. This was a cervical surgery, and the surgeon was afraid that if he had to go up one more level, I'd be frozen and wouldn't be able to turn my head at all.
At that point I said, "I think I have a lot more years here to be productive. I think I'm out."
So after 32 years, I retired. I actually went out on disability.
During that season they came to me and asked if I was interested in working in the league office.
Trudy and I went through a lot of back and forth, and I said, "Okay, I'll go."
It was interesting, but it wasn't something I wanted to do forever. It was highly stressful and a really challenging environment because it was never good news.
People weren't going to call up and say, "We had a great game tonight here in Utah. We lost by five, but boy, those referees were outstanding."
That call did not happen.
It was, "Hey, what happened here? Would you look at this? Would you look at this? Would you look at this? If this was a different decision, I don't think we would have lost this game."
That was a regular occurrence.
Can an NBA Call Be Reversed?
Ric Hansen:Is there such a thing as a reversal on a call?
Ed Rush:Today they have a coach's challenge. They have one per game, and they can go over to the monitor and look at the play.
That's a really good addition with the technology they have.
We always taught that we could conference. If I had a call and another official looked at the play and said, "Hey, wait a minute, I think we've got something different here," we'd come together and conference.
We'd try to come out with the best decision through collaboration and information.
That happened, but now they have technology to do that.
They've got a highly sophisticated replay center, with referees and screens all over the place. Every camera in the building is connected to a screen so they can see every possible angle.
It's remarkable work.
The Locker-Room Joke That Changed Everything
Ric Hansen:There was a Wikipedia note about something that happened in 2013 in the locker room. You told a joke at that point. Can you tell us that story?
Ed Rush:Sure, because I think it's really a God story.
I was a coordinator for the Pac-12 officials. I never refereed college basketball, so I didn't have experience with that, but I knew refereeing and I knew basketball.
I was coaching these guys hard, trying to get them to a level that I thought they should have been at. I thought we had a group that was talented, but a lot of them underachieved.
We were in the conference tournament in Las Vegas. We had a situation where the officials did not address a sideline situation that should have been addressed. There was a lot of emotion, and things were outside the guidelines.
After the game, just to try to bring a little light to it, I said, "So what will it take me to get you guys to address that? You want a reward? You want a trip to Cancun or $5,000?"
The mistake was that there were three or four guys in the back of the locker room getting ready for the next game who were not on my Christmas-card list.
I'd been demanding of one of them during the season.
All of a sudden they went, "Ah, now we got him."
They ran that as quickly as they could to ESPN.
Basically they said, "Rush has got a bounty on the coach of Arizona because he told them if he did something, he'd give me either $5,000 or a trip to Cancun."
The media went crazy.
Nobody called me and asked me about it.
Fortunately, the commissioner was in a difficult position.
I said, "Larry, you're a great guy. Let's just take the heat off here. I'm out."
At the time it was bothersome because I wanted to go out on my own terms.
It took me about six months to look back and think, "Oh, this is why this happened."
God had a purpose for allowing this to happen.
At that time we had been involved in a company that we had started several years before called Court Club.
I had told my son and another fellow working with us, "Look, there's a conflict of interest with me doing this thing with the Pac-12. I'm going to have to be in the background here, and you guys run this."
This was reaching out to officials all over the world, and we really looked at it as ministry.
Six months later we looked back and our membership had grown by 25%.
It was remarkable.
I said, "This is really clear. I would not be talking to these people all over the country and all over the world if I was still doing this thing with the Pac-12."
And today, with Zoom and other technologies, what we're doing now, I'm really proud of.
We've made a major impact in a lot of people's lives.
My wife Trudy is very involved in helping, as is Ed Jr. and another fellow by the name of Rob Rourke, who was an SEC referee.
We're really teaching life as much as we can.
They know where I stand with Jesus. We talk about that unashamedly.
It's really evolved from that locker-room deal to where we are now.
Court Club Elite
Ric Hansen:Tell us a little more about Court Club Elite. What exactly is that?
Ed Rush:We started 15 years ago.
My son Ed, an entrepreneur and great visionary, came to me and said, "How do referees know the path to take to improve, to enhance their schedule?"
My answer was, "It depends on where you live and who you talk to. There's no program. You have to reach out and figure it out."
So he said, "How about if we start something that teaches people all those concepts?"
The first thing we did was he wrote around with me with a tape recorder. For about four months we just talked, and there were quotes and so forth.
He wrote a book, put my name on it, called Add One. It was really all the things you do to get better, improve your game, and make yourself a better product for other people to hire.
From that book we got a tremendous outpouring of questions:
"Help me with this."
"Help me with this."
So we started conference calls. Conference calls became DVDs. DVDs evolved into streaming and Zoom.
Now we're reaching people every day.
We can do a lot of individual work, one-on-ones, and it's really remarkable.
I love hearing other people's stories—how they got to where they were. There's no two stories the same, as you know from doing Amazing Greats.
I'm doing a version of what you do: hearing people about their journey and then saying, "I think we can help you."
We're looking for people who are talented, motivated, and coachable.
We fit into the coachable part.
Building a Community of Officials
Ric Hansen:Are you the only ones doing it?
Ed Rush:There are a couple of other groups that are trying.
I think the blessing I have is that because of the number of years I had in the league, I have so many friends and contacts.
This isn't just me.
We get individuals to come in and be part of this. A lot of former officials, coaches, sports-psychology people—we have a wide variety of individuals.
We had Dave Pasch from ESPN.
A lot of different folks have come because I was fortunate enough to have these relationships.
We try to bring those individuals in to communicate with our group—people these referees otherwise wouldn't hear from.
Ed Rush's Journey to Jesus
Ric Hansen:Let's talk about your walk with Jesus.
Were you a Christian from childhood? Tell us a little bit about how that journey all came together.
Ed Rush:Jane and Tom Rush were great parents.
We grew up in a little town outside of Philly, and we went to Flourtown Presbyterian Church.
We had to go there every Sunday. We went to Sunday school. I had a little envelope with my quarters in it.
That was an exercise. It wasn't any different than going to the Boy Scouts. It was just what you did.
It wasn't like I didn't hear. But it never went anywhere. It was in my head.
I knew what Easter was about. I knew what Christmas was about. But it wasn't personalized.
If people asked me, "Are you a Christian?"
I'd say, "Oh, yeah. I went to Flourtown Presbyterian Church. Of course I am."
But frankly, it wasn't until I started doing some hard soul-searching and came to the fact that I wasn't really very content.
Despite the outside looking in—that I was successful—I didn't see myself that way.
I wasn't very content.
The shorter version of the story is that God happened to get me in touch with George Tolls, whom I had known for years and years.
George and I were at a game in Canada. We were on a flight, then we had to get off the flight, get in a car, and drive to Seattle.
George knew we weren't just going to talk about what player looked good or who had what batting average.
We got deep.
He asked a question, and he's very good at listening to your answer and then asking another question based on that.
I'll never forget that ride because it got me thinking:
"What really is that?"
"What does it really mean to be a Christian?"
At the end of the ride he said, "I'll see you at the arena. We have a game that night, and I might be bringing a friend."
I asked, "Who's that?"
He said he was a former Miami Dolphin and the head of PIO.
We got to the game. Afterward, in the big locker room at the Kingdome, we went into a little side room.
Norm Evans and George presented the Gospel in the clearest way I had ever heard it.
I'd say it was the first time I really heard it.
This was after a game where I had a contentious situation on the court with Dennis Johnson, and at least half of it was my fault because of my attitude.
That was the kind of stuff that was bothering me.
They prayed about that.
Norm Evans, George Tolls, and I were there, and the Holy Spirit was present.
I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit for the first time in my life.
That was October 5, 1979.
I went back to my hotel and just wanted to be quiet.
I finally got on my knees and said, "Okay, Lord, this is it. I can't do this by myself. You've got to come join my team. Forgive me."
I went through all those things, and He did.
The change was incremental.
I felt different. I had a different base by which I was living my life, and it was definitely different.
But I had a lot of fears.
I thought people were going to think, "Ed went crazy. He's a Jesus freak. He's one of those born-againers."
But I got enormous support.
Norm and George were a big part of that.
They didn't leave me alone.
Because I think discipleship is one thing—you lead a person to Christ—but don't leave them out there.
We go side by side and march with them.
There's going to be a little bit of beating up, and they have to hang in there.
When Self-Help Wasn't Enough
Ric Hansen:You had spent some time with self-help books. I remember you had a good library of self-help books that weren't doing the trick.
Ed Rush:They read good, though.
You're reading them and you go, "Oh, that's a good idea."
But it was all up here.
Nothing penetrated those 17 inches.
Ric Hansen:A lot of the things I've found in self-help books are things that are in the Bible that some people plucked out and made their life's mission or their story.
All the good stuff in those self-help books is really derivative of biblical Scripture.
So it all happened in a side room at the Kingdome with Norm Evans and George Tolls.
Was there a challenge after you experienced that? Challenges with doubt, fear, or unanswered prayers?
Learning to Surrender Control
Ed Rush:The most difficult thing for me was that, like most athletes, I used my share of four-letter words.
After receiving Christ like that, that stopped.
I didn't say to myself, "Stop doing that." It just stopped.
Except my aggression on the court. To keep control, I thought, "This is why I'm good. This is why I keep control."
So I literally prayed, "God, you've got to make a deal for me here. I've got to be able to do this."
I made a side deal with God.
That wasn't very successful.
I was in Philadelphia and was asked to speak at an FCA luncheon in downtown Philadelphia. I shared my testimony.
That night I was working a game at Madison Square Garden—the Knicks and the 76ers—which was televised back to Philadelphia.
During the game, I got into a debate with Darryl Dawkins, who was very aggressive.
I was doing my thing.
All of a sudden, down the baseline where I was standing, I saw this guy with his boom mic. The microphone was right there.
It flashed through my mind: all those high-school kids who had been at the FCA thing.
I thought, "Oh my. I wonder if they heard that."
Everything I said was useless.
I was traumatized.
I thought, "I've got to stop right now."
That was my lesson.
There was fear that I was going to get run over because I wasn't going to be as strong.
Today, when we teach this, we call it option thinking—going to other areas and doing other things.
Like Dennis Rodman and finding common ground.
It was maybe a whole season before I was sure whether I was really affected.
But it had a positive effect on my ratings and my going into the Finals and the places I went.
I didn't skip a beat.
I thought, "I guess it works."
His way, as we know, as opposed to my way and my side deal.
Losing a Son and Finding God's Comfort
Ric Hansen:What about a situation where it was really obvious that God showed up and made some miraculous thing happen?
Ed Rush:I'll have to tell you one thing that involves George Tolls.
We lost our son at 32 years of age from an opiate overdose.
He had fought this hard. He'd been to all kinds of places.
He was a really gifted kid, a tremendous athlete, and had been recruited at the University of Wyoming as a quarterback.
We were proud of him, but he had a tough fight.
He lost his life, and it was really hard on us.
It was a lot of drama in our life—every day helping him fight the fight.
Almost a year later, we were still processing through the grief.
George Tolls called me and said, "Ed, I've been really praying about this, and God revealed to me how He saved you and Trudy and Jeff and the rest of your family."
He laid out all the things we were doing, the amount of stress in our life, how hard it was on Jeff, how he was disappointing us on a daily basis, how there was no joy in his life and he was kind of sapping the joy out of ours.
The road he was going down was that he was either going to have what happened to him or he was going to be incarcerated.
George was so clear on what had been revealed to him.
To me, it was like, "Wow."
It really kind of cleansed me.
We still think about him. We reminisce about things. But it's different now.
We know he knew Christ. He accepted the Lord as his Savior.
One of my last days with him, we went to worship together.
So I knew where he was.
I knew that was a heck of a lot better deal than what we're doing.
He got a head start.
I felt that it was really how God spoke to George, who then spoke to us, that was a game changer.
Helping Referees and Supporting Others
Ric Hansen:Thank you for sharing that. That's a vulnerable thing, and it's one of those things where you certainly lean on God.
I promised you I'd keep you only about 30 or 40 minutes, but it's been over that already.
Is there any way we can support you now in anything that you're involved in?
Ed Rush:We have a foundation with Court Club that's specifically designed to help referees who have economic challenges or other things.
We have an incredibly generous group, and we're really proud of that.
We just had a campaign where we raised money for pancreatic cancer through a group called the Jack and Jill Foundation, which is like a Make-A-Wish for people going through this.
One of our referees, Tony Brown, a great guy, is fighting that disease.
I hired him when I was in the league office, and we raised that money in his name.
He was so encouraged by that, and he still is.
Right now we're actually reaching out to some referees who were in Ukraine, who were making a significant amount of money working games around Europe, and their income has stopped, as well as referees in Russia.
We're in the process of finding out how we can work with one or two of those individuals to support them economically, so they know we're there for them.
Closing
Ric Hansen:Thank you so much, Ed, for taking the time with us today on Amazing Greats.
I really appreciate it.
God bless you. We'll be praying for all the good works you're doing with your organization right now.
Ed Rush:Okay, well, Ric, this was fun. I hope it parallels somewhat with Ed Jr. We'll compare.
Ric Hansen:You'll have to put them up side by side and people can vote.
Thank you, Ed.
Ed Rush:You're great.
Ric Hansen:All right. Have a great day.
You too.
What a wild lifelong ride in the NBA.
It's so powerful to hear what God has done along the way in the life of Ed Rush. I loved his journey, lunch with our mutual friend George Tolls, who continues to impact lives every single day.
Thank you for sharing your time with us.
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Thanks for joining us.
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