A Hall of Fame referee once revealed the most difficult player he had to deal with during his distinguished career, recalling him knocking on the referees' door in Game 7 of the NBA Finals in 2010.

Danny Crawford was an NBA referee for 31 years and made an impressive 23 straight NBA Finals appearances.

He worked at least one NBA Finals game each season from 1995 to 2017 - the same year he retired. In 2025, Crawford was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Chicago native is among the best NBA referees in history, alongside 23-year veteran official Zach Zarba, who singled out the hardest player to officiate in his career.

Danny Crawford: 'He Was Impossible'

Crawford has shared the court with the NBA's biggest legends, including LeBron James and the late, great Kobe Bryant. But one player stands out as being the most difficult individual, according to the legendary referee, who name-dropped Rasheed Wallace.

After playing basketball in college, Wallace enjoyed a 16-year spell in the NBA, playing for the likes of the Atlanta Hawks, the Boston Celtics, and the New York Knicks.

Wallace, a four-time NBA All-Star, won an NBA championship in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons and came close to winning a second title in 2010 when the Celtics went to battle with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wallace played hard and was a winner on the court, but Crawford called him 'impossible' and said he was the 'most difficult individual' of his refereeing career.

The 72-year-old told NBC Sports Boston: "The most difficult individual in my career. He was impossible. I remember I worked the All-Star game in Washington [in 2001]. Rasheed Wallace was an All-Star then, and I remember we were staying in the same hotel, and we’re going down an escalator and I remember these little kids asking Rasheed Wallace for an autograph, and he was like waving these kids off like, 'No, no, no, no. Get away from me'. And I was like, 'He is a difficult individual'."

He added: "If you think about Rasheed Wallace’s relationship with referees over the years - it was impossible. He was the most difficult man in the world to referee, to deal with. It was impossible."

Crawford Recalls Wallace Trying to Invade Referees' Locker Room

One of the NBA Finals matches Crawford refereed was the Game 7 clash between the Lakers and the Celtics in 2010.

The Lakers beat the Celtics and the result angered Wallace, who wanted to enter the referees' locker room at the Staples Center in a wild scene that involved the arena's security.

Crawford called it the 'strangest situation' and said there was no way he could allow the power forward inside the locker room even if his intentions had been pure.

On the incident, he recalled: "So Game 7, NBA Finals, you hear security knocking on the door saying, 'Hey, Rasheed Wallace would like to come into the locker room and talk to you guys'. I said, 'Are you serious?' I can only imagine what this fight would be like in this locker room.

"He would kick our butts. So I actually told the security guy, I said, 'You know what? No way. Rasheed can’t come in the locker room'. Then they said, 'But he wants to come in and talk to you guys', and supposedly, he wanted to come in and apologize. That’s what I heard. But, guess what guys, too late."