Suyash Mehta: ‘It takes a while to get used to being an NBA referee’

NBA referee Suyash Mehta, the first person of Indian origin to become an official in the world’s most prestigious league for basketball, discusses his journey

He gets to rub shoulders with some of the all time greats of the sport of basketball, and works in the top tier of the game — the NBA; but Suyash Mehta has something unique that he can lay claim to. Born to immigrant parents in the US, Suyash is the first person of Indian descent to become an NBA referee. “My parents came to America in the ‘80s and my father pursued a career in medicine. My mother was a botanist but later raised four kids, she had her hands full. Our whole upbringing was based on our parents educating us about Indian values; our first language was Hindi and then we ended up learning English,” he says, over a Zoom call from the US. Suyash was a medical student, but pursued refereeing part-time. However, when there was an opportunity to take it up full-time, he grabbed it with both hands. Excerpts from an interview: