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The situation with Golden State Warriors star Chris Paul and referee Scott Foster has gone to an extreme. That was clear late last month when, despite the entire NBA world being aware of a years-long grudge between the two, Foster ejected Paul from the Warriors’ loss to the Suns. After the game, Paul old reporters that it is, in fact, “personal,” between him and Foster.
It’s an ugly situation, because not only is Chris Paul one of the most respected veteran players in today’s NBA, but Foster is one of its top referees. The whole thing is baffling to commissioner Adam Silver, who spoke about it on SiriusXM Radio this week.
“You have there, as you said, two veterans who are the best at what they do,” Silver said. “Scott is one of the most respected NBA officials, one of the highest-rated NBA officials, which is why he referees in our Finals games. Of course, Chris [Paul] ‘s track record speaks for itself.
“The way you handle that, at least the way we’ve tried to handle that, is talk to both of them and say, ‘The expectation is that you’re going to be professional.’ And deal, you know, privately with the two of them and say, ‘Guys, whatever the bad blood is between you two, you don’t have to be friends, but you got to both go out and do your jobs.’ So that’s my expectation going forward.”
Scott Foster Wields Too Much Power
The problem, though, is that this is much more a Scott Foster issue than a Chris Paul issue. Ultimately, Paul is just the player and goes on the floor to play the game—there are no actions he can take against Foster while he is playing in that game. But Foster has the whistle, and has the power to make things difficult for Paul.
Which he has done, repeatedly. The one thing most NBA fans—not just Warriors fans, or fans of the Suns, Clippers and Paul’s other former teams—know about Foster is that he has a vendetta against Paul, whose teams have lost 18 of their last 20 games with Foster as the referee.
According to his bio, Scott Foster has been a referee in the NBA for 28 years and now has 1,617 regular-season games to his credit. He has 226 playoff games on his record, too, and is among leaders in career NBA Finals games officiated, at 23.
Many Backers for Warriors’ Chris Paul
After the ejection last month, and Chris Paul’s calling out the issue afterward, the blatant lack of professionalism from Foster when it comes to Paul reached a head. On ESPN’s “First Take,” Stephen A. Smith sounded off on Foster, expressing the view shared by many fans and fellow media members.
“It is clearly personal with Chris Paul. There is no denying it,” Smith said at the time, per NBC Sports Bay Area. “And you saw it there last night. … There’s no getting around the fact that Chris Paul is making very, very valid points about personal animus that exists. …
“The problem with Scott Foster in my opinion is that Scott Foster tries to give the impression of pristine professionalism when it comes to Chris Paul. And that’s not the case when it comes to Chris Paul. He’s not pristinely a professional when it comes to Chris Paul. It’s personal. He’s not objective, he can get subjective. And Chris Paul clearly gets on his nerves, and he’s shown it from time to time.
“And that’s why Chris Paul needed to point out what he pointed out last night. And the NBA needs to do something about it.”
Silver did not suggest that he is on the brink of doing anything about it, however.
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