NEW YORK – NBA G League referees Nate Cearley (KEER-lee), Brent Haskill (hass-CULL) and Chelisa (SHUH-lee-suh) Painter have been named NBA staff officials for the 2026-27 season, it was announced today by Albert Sanders, NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Referee Operations, and Monty McCutchen, NBA Senior Vice President, Head of Referee Development and Training.
“We are thrilled to welcome Nate, Brent and Chelisa to our full-time NBA officiating staff,” said Sanders. “This significant achievement reflects years of hard work, dedication and high-level performance.”
“Nate, Brent and Chelisa have shown impressive growth as officials during their time in the NBA G League,” said McCutchen. “We look forward to supporting their continued development as they take this next step.”
Cearley, Haskill and Painter will continue to officiate NBA G League games alongside their NBA assignments this season. All NBA referees with fewer than four years of service in the NBA also work NBA G League games to gain additional experience as crew chiefs and develop as leaders.
Cearley refereed eight NBA regular-season games as a non-staff official in the 2025-26 season. The Kansas native has officiated five years in the NBA G League (234 games), earning playoff assignments in all five seasons, including the 2026 NBA G League Finals.
Haskill refereed 32 NBA regular-season games as a non-staff official over five seasons from 2021-22 through 2025-26. He has spent eight years in the NBA G League (336 games) and officiated each of the last four NBA G League Finals. The Florida native has also worked games in the Basketball Africa League and NBA Summer League, including the NBA Summer League championship game in Las Vegas in 2023, 2025 and 2026.
Painter refereed three NBA regular-season games as a non-staff official in 2025-26. She has officiated five years in the NBA G League (215 games), including playoff assignments in three seasons. The Virginia native also spent seven years as an NCAA Division I official. Painter’s addition brings the number of women on the NBA’s full-time officiating staff to nine for 2026-27. The other eight are Dannica Baroody, Simone Jelks, Sha’Rae Mitchell, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, Jenna Reneau, Natalie Sago, Jenna Schroeder and Danielle Scott.
The 2026-27 NBA regular season will tip off Tuesday, Oct. 20 with an NBC/Peacock tripleheader as the Boston Celtics visit the Detroit Pistons (3 p.m. ET), the defending NBA champion New York Knicks host the Philadelphia 76ers (7 p.m. ET) and the San Antonio Spurs meet the Oklahoma City Thunder at Frost Bank Center (9:30 p.m. ET).
