Who is Bill Kennedy? What we know so far about NBA ref going viral for funny review

Bill Kennedy is an NBA referee who has recently gone viral for his instant replay calls. Kennedy seems to love adding an extra flourish to the reviews when he makes the call over the loudspeaker and is on camera. He frankly has a voice fit for audiobooks or a voiceover commercial. The clips of his reviews have gone viral on Twitter.

Kennedy has been an official in the league since the 1995–96 season. He is one of the longest-tenured officials in the NBA.

Kennedy is an alumnus of Arizona State University and began his officiating career in basketball at a young age, starting in the Continental Basketball Association. The CBA was a minor league basketball organization in the Eastern US that became defunct in 2009.

Kennedy has officiated five NBA Finals games. That is the highest honor in the NBA for a ref, as they must qualify through in-season performance to officiate the Finals.

He's also worked a lot in international basketball. He officiated at the FIBA World Championships in Turkey in 2010. He also acted as a referee at the London Summer Olympics in 2012. Kennedy is also openly gay.

"I am proud to be an NBA referee, and I am proud to be a gay man," Kennedy told Yahoo sports

Bill Kennedy's notable moments in the NBA

NBA referee Bill Kennedy once ejected then-Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers on March 17, 2009. Rivers was fined $25,000 by the league for his critical remarks in the postgame interaction. Kennedy was also reprimanded for his handling of the situation by the league

The two had another run-in in a game that occurred during the 2009 NBA Playoffs, where Rivers allegedly used a gay slur toward Kennedy during the game.

It was not the only time Bill Kennedy was the subject of alleged verbal abuse. He ejected Rajon Rondo during a game in December 2015, and Rondo allegedly used a gay slur towards the referee. Following the incident, Rondo was suspended for one game.