HerStory
The first woman to step into the NBA. A champion on the
court before she ever blew a whistle.
Trading the Ball
for the Whistle
After her playing career, Violet turned her deep knowledge of the game toward officiating. She began at the high school level in California, spending five years developing the fundamentals of her craft before ascending rapidly through the collegiate ranks — officiating women's games in the Pac-12, Big Sky, Big West, and West Coast Conferences, and accumulating an impressive five NCAA Final Four assignments and two NCAA Championship games.
In 1997, she joined the WNBA for the league's inaugural season — officiating the very first WNBA Championship. That same year, she received the call that would change sports history: an invitation to join the National Basketball Association.
October 31, 1997. History Was
Made.
On that October night, Violet Palmer stepped onto an NBA court and — without ceremony, without fanfare, simply by doing her job — became the first woman to officiate a regular-season game in a major American professional sport. The significance of the moment was not lost on the basketball world. But for Violet, the focus was exactly where it always had been: on the game.
"People say to me, 'You're the Jackie Robinson of officiating for women.' I appreciate the acknowledgment, but for me as an official, I just wanted to earn my respect from the NBA players on the floor, the coaches, the GMs."
Milestones
Key moments that defined the Violet Palmer journey.
NCAA Division II Champion, Cal Poly Pomona (1st title)
Back-to-back NCAA Division II Champions
Joined WNBA for inaugural season; officiated 1997 WNBA Championship
Made NBA history: first female referee in NBA regular-season game
Won Naismith Award for Official of the Year
Officiated the NBA All-Star Game, New Orleans
Retired after 19-year NBA career; began consulting for the NBA
Pac-12 Conference, Western Athletic Conference (WAC), Big Sky Conference, Big West Conference, Mountain West Conference, and West Coast Conference (WCC)