NEW YORK — Gediminas Petraitis performs before thousands of people as a full-time NBA referee.
A much smaller crowd watched him realize another dream Tuesday.
The NBA official from Lithuania was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in Maryland, where his road to the hardwood began when he swapped his Sports Authority uniform for a referee's shirt.
The 26-year-old was one of 71 people who took their oaths in the ceremony in Baltimore, and he was selected to lead them in the Pledge of Allegiance.
"How cool is that?" said Bob Delaney, the NBA's vice president of referee development and performance, who attended the ceremony along with Petraitis' family.