Ed Middleton, 63; longtime National Basketball Assn. referee

Ed Middleton, 63, longtime referee for the National Basketball Assn., died Nov. 5 at his La Quinta home. No cause of death was announced. A native of Bryn Mawr, Pa., Middleton officiated in the American Basketball Assn. from 1967 until he was hired by the NBA in 1976.

He was one of two referees working the Lakers-Houston Rockets game at the Forum on Dec. 9, 1977, when Lakers forward Kermit Washington seriously injured Houston’s Rudy Tomjanovich with a crushing punch. He also called the 1996 NBA All-Star game and the April 24, 1994, game in which David Robinson scored 71 points for the San Antonio Spurs against the Clippers at the Sports Arena. He retired in 1999.