Getty NBA official Scott Foster looks on during a game between the Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers.
The Golden State Warriors may be the oddsmaker’s favorites to prevail in the NBA Finals and secure their fourth championship since Steve Kerr became the team’s head coach, but the East-winning Boston Celtics clearly pose some challenges.
Major questions loom about the Dubs’ health, their ability to slow down Celtics star Jayson Tatum, Kevon Looney‘s match-up in the pivot with Robert Williams III and Al Horford, as well as Marcus Smart‘s penchant for locking down the perimeter, among other things.
Also: fans are concerned about what the officiating will be like in the series, particularly after the referees for the Finals were revealed on the eve of Game 1.
Per an announcement from the league, such luminaries as Scott Foster, Tony Brothers, Kane Fitzgerald and Eric Lewis will be charged with maintaining order during the best-of-seven championship series. Unsurprisingly, not everyone is on-board with those selections, particularly in the case of Foster.
However, they probably should be.
Foster’s Warriors History
Foster, perhaps more than any official league-wide, is someone who has managed to draw the ire of just about every team’s fanbase. When he was selected for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the C’s and the Miami Heat, fans on both sides were panicking.
Dub Nation is similarly riled with Foster’s selection here, which stands to reason given some of his past run-ins with the Warriors.
The veteran referee famously issued former Dubs guard Shaun Livingston his first-ever ejection back in 2016. Along a similar vein, he ejected then-Warriors big man DeMarcus Cousins from a game he wasn’t even active for in 2018. Earlier that same year, he was spotlighted for the team’s poor record in games he called during the fledgling years of its dynasty.
Those incidents notwithstanding, Golden State has actually fared relatively well during postseason games officiated by Foster. Per Basketball Reference, the club owns a winning percentage of 65.4 over 26 such games, the fourth-best mark of any NBA team. Boston, meanwhile, has a sub-.500 record at 17-19.
Again, though, Warriors fans are peeved.
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Fans Sound Off on the Referee(s)
Here is just a smattering of the responses to Foster and Co. being named to the Finals crew:
“Why is Scott Foster still allowed to ref Celtics games? We have all seen their insane record when he is reffing????” wondered one fan.
In response to an ESPN’s Basketball Power Index favoring the C’s in the series, another commenter wrote, “Scott Foster knew about this stat. He’s been wearing a Celtics jersey to games.”
“Kane Fitzgerald, Scott Foster, and Tony Brothers are easily the most incompetent officials in the league, and the NBA keeps bringing them back to officiate big games,” opined a third respondent. “I honestly don’t get it.”
“Anyone know where Tony Brothers and Scott Foster are staying in SF?” wrote a fourth tweeter in response to the announcement.
Finally, there was this short, sweet gem: “EW SCOTT FOSTER.”
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Warriors Fans Up in Arms After Learning Referee Selection for NBA Finals