NBA referee Lauren Holtkamp on career goals and how the #MeToo movement resonated with her younger self - New York Daily News

When the 2018 NBA playoffs commence, the league's lone female referee will not be roaming the hardwood and calling potential fouls on LeBron James, Kevin Durant or James Harden.

"Absolutely, that's the hope of every referee on staff," says Lauren Holtkamp, referring to one of her career goals, to officiate an NBA postseason game.

Holtkamp, 37, has made great strides professionally ever since she first began working NBA games during the 2014-15 season, but she stresses that even in the age of #MeToo, and even though her day job revolves around what she describes as a "masculine environment," the Missouri native says she has felt nothing but supported and respected during her still-young referee career.

"As (#MeToo) came up last year, it resonated with me as a younger person entering into officiating," says Holtkamp. "But I feel very safe and supported in this (NBA) work environment."

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Her first brush with discrimination came when Holtkamp was training at an officials' camp in Missouri while she was in graduate school at Drury University. The camp served as a training stage to prepare for officiating college basketball games. But when Holtkamp requested working a men's college basketball game, she was told by a male supervisor, "It's not a choice for you."

"Early experiences for people in their professions really shape their sense of horizon and opportunity," says Holtkamp.

Referee Lauren Holtkamp talks about women working in the NBA.(Winslow Townson/AP)

Undeterred, she continued to pursue her career goals, and Holtkamp soon climbed the ranks, eventually working games in the NBA Developmental League (now called the G-League), the NCAA, the WNBA and FIBA, the international league. Today she is still considered a pioneer in her profession, carrying the torch passed on by Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner, female NBA refs who preceded Holtkamp.

Despite troubling reports about a toxic work environment within the Dallas Mavericks organization — which Sports Illustrated published earlier this year and detailed sexual harassment claims against former Mavs president and CEO Terdema Ussery — Holtkamp says her experience in the NBA the past four years has been a rewarding one.

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She credits individuals like NBA commissioner Adam Silver for being hands-on when it comes to addressing issues like gender equality within the NBA culture.

"I know that I have equal access to resources and training at this level," says Holtkamp. "I feel supported by management. I think with any official coming into the league, it takes time to earn respect. Some officials get the benefit of anonymity early on, coming into the league. For me, (the respect) was almost immediate."

The one aspect of working as an NBA ref that Holtkamp says is still an adjustment for her is the grueling travel schedule she and her peers must maintain during a season. In addition to working NBA games, Holtkamp and other league referees — including her husband, Jonathan Sterling — must work at the NBA replay center in Secaucus, N.J. Sometimes those assignments come on the heels of refereeing an NBA game in another city across the country (or across the border).

NBA referee Lauren Holtkamp has felt very supported in the league.(Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News)

"On any given night you may have anywhere between two to five NBA referees covering all the games that night (in Secaucus). Sometimes there will be replay center assignments included in your game assignments," says Holtkamp. "What we found, it doesn't take away from the number of games that you're working, but it does add to the number of nights you're on the road. Work (at the replay center) starts at 5 p.m. and may go to 1 o'clock in the morning. It's incredible. The chaos of it is the sheer amount of technology, TVs wall to wall."

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Holtkamp and her husband have to map out their schedules for the season to maximize the opportunities when they can be in Tampa — where they live — together at the same time. There is also the burden of leaving behind their dog, MJ (named after pop star Michael Jackson, not NBA legend Michael Jordan), when both are on the road working. Work makes for long trips and often, solo meals.

"The lifestyle can become lonely. You're traveling city to city by yourself. You're meeting your (referee) partners there. They're coming from different cities. You work a game and then may not see them for the rest of the season," says Holtkamp. "The lifestyle is definitely one that — I'm learning new ways to be on the road by myself, and then make connections so it's not so much by myself. I have family around (her parents live in Missouri). Recently I worked in Oklahoma City, then had a day off, and then worked an Oklahoma City Blue, G-League game. My mom drove up from Missouri. We went to lunch together."

Holtkamp says she has no idea how long she will continue her referee career — "I don't think I'll hit a wall," she says with a laugh — but she is enthusiastic about younger women who are coming up in the referee ranks to follow in her footsteps. It is part of what Holtkamp says is a growing female population in the sport, one comprised of smart, strong female voices who occupy important posts at every level.

"I certainly recognize that I'm walking into a masculine environment. I'm not blind to that at all," says Holtkamp. "But look at (Spurs assistant coach and former WNBA star) Becky Hammon. There are women all around an NBA floor. Look at the camera crews, the security. We're there. You just have to pay attention."

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