NBA referee goes down hard after brutal collision with camera operator during Hawks-Nets game

NBA authoritative Sha’Rae Mitchell went down hard during Thursday night's crippled betwixt the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets aft she ran into a camera relation and appeared to injure her caput successful the collision. 

Mitchell, who is successful her archetypal play arsenic an NBA unit official, was jogging afloat velocity on the tribunal with conscionable implicit 8 minutes near successful the crippled erstwhile she took a hard autumn to the crushed aft moving into a camera operator, who appeared to beryllium filming the assemblage courtside during play. 

Referee Sha'Rae Mitchell (98) signals during the 4th fourth of an NBA hoops crippled betwixt the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks astatine State Farm Arena successful Atlanta, Georgia, connected March 12, 2026. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

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The crippled was stopped arsenic Mitchell appeared to drawback the backmost of her head, bent implicit successful evident pain. 

She walked disconnected the tribunal and sat down, continuing to drawback astatine her head. 

Referee Sha'Rae Mitchell holds her caput aft a collision during the 4th fourth of the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks crippled astatine State Farm Arena successful Atlanta, Georgia, connected March 12, 2026. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

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Mitchell reportedly returned to the crippled arsenic Jalen Johnson recorded 21 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists to assistance the Hawks widen the NBA’s longest existent winning streak to 8 games with a 108-97 triumph implicit the Nets.

The 40-year-old referee joined the league officially this play aft antecedently officiating 11 regular-season games arsenic a non-staff authoritative during the 2022-23 NBA play and 4 games during the 2021-22 season. 

Rapper and entertainer Boosie Badazz reacts aft watching referee Sha'Rae Mitchell (98) autumn to the level pursuing a collision during the 4th fourth of an NBA hoops crippled betwixt the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks astatine State Farm Arena successful Atlanta, Georgia, connected March 12, 2026. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

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Mitchell was a standout women’s assemblage hoops subordinate astatine UC Santa Barbara earlier she served connected coaching staffs astatine Stanford University, UCLA and Coastal Carolina University. She past moved to officiating assemblage hoops for respective years earlier making her debut astatine the pro level.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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