Bennett Salvatore

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Bennett Salvatore (born January 9, 1950) is a former NBA referee from Stamford, Connecticut. He officiated 1,520 regular-season games before retiring after the 2014-15 season and lived in Stamford his whole life. In high school, he played baseball and football and earned All-American and All-State honors as a quarterback in 1967 at C.W. Post. He became well known to fans for a controversial call against Dirk Nowitzki in Game 5 of the 2006 NBA Finals, which drew a harsh response from Dallas owner Mark Cuban. Salvatore also owned Bennett’s, a steakhouse in Stamford, until he closed it on October 8, 2010, and he was a lifelong friend and rival of Bobby Valentine, who runs a competing restaurant in Stamford. In 2000, Salvatore was sentenced to probation, 150 hours of community service, and a $500 fine for airline ticket fraud; he had pleaded guilty in federal court to filing a false tax return for the 1993 tax year.