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The Chris Paul vs. Scott Foster rivalry gained yet another chapter on November 22 in the Phoenix Suns‘ 123-115 win over the Golden State Warriors.
After getting ejected in the first half of his first game at Phoenix’s Footprint Center since getting traded from the Suns to the Warriors in the offseason, Paul chalked up his tempestuous relationship with Foster, an NBA official for the past 29 years, to a “situation with my son.”
Without elaborating, Paul told reporters after the game that “everybody knows” about the beef.
“We had a situation some years ago, and it’s personal,” Paul said. “The league knows, everybody knows, there’s been a meeting and all that. It’s just a situation with my son. So, I’m OK with a ref saying whatever; just don’t use a tech to get your point across.”
Paul, 38, didn’t even make it to halftime of the game before getting tossed. Paul began jawing at Foster after the official whistled Paul for a personal foul against Kevin Durant with 23 seconds remaining in the first half and the Suns up 58-47. Foster assessed a technical foul, and when Paul didn’t let up, Foster gave him his second tech and threw him out of the game.
According to the New York Post, Paul said, “You’re a b****” to Foster.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr also received a technical foul during the exchange after Paul was ejected. The personal foul and three technicals wound up giving the Suns 5 extra points.
Foster told a pool reporter that Paul was given his first tech for “unsportsmanlike conduct.” The second tech, Foster said, came after Paul “continued to complain and received a second unsportsmanlike technical foul.”
No Love Lost Between Chris Paul & Scott Foster
Paul’s run-ins with Foster, 56, span his career, dating back to his stints with the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Suns.
“No one really knows where this animosity began,” Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix wrote in a story published November 23, referring to the relationship as “one of the most bizarre player-referee rivalries in sports history.”
In a Substack column titled “The Definitive History of Chris Paul vs. Scott Foster,” longtime NBA observer Tom Haberstroh questioned the league’s role in the rivalry.
“I’ve been tracking this storied vendetta for years, and part of me still can’t believe that the NBA continues to assign Foster to Paul games considering their long-standing history,” Haberstroh wrote on November 23.
He also posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Paul’s teams have not fared well with Foster on the same court.
“I found that Chris Paul’s teams were favored in 15 of 20 playoff games with Foster officiating. They went 3-17 and lost by an average of 11.2 points,” Haberstroh posted.
At one point, Chris Paul had lost 13 straight playoff games that were refereed by Foster.
“If I was a betting man… Eleven, eleven games in a row,” Paul said during the 2021 playoffs while a member of the Suns, referring to the 11 straight games he had lost under Foster’s whistle at that point.
Where Does the Beef Go From Here?
SI’s Mannix asserted that the NBA could stay above the fracas.
“Don’t expect the NBA to discipline Foster,” Mannix wrote. “Why would they? The NBA views Foster as one of its top officials. The meeting Paul had with Foster years ago didn’t lead to any discipline. There’s no reason to believe this incident will either.”
However, he does note that the ongoing feud is “a PR battle” that “Paul is winning.”
“The future Hall of Famer clearly doesn’t want Foster refereeing his games anymore,” he wrote. “And he has boxed the NBA into an uncomfortable position if Foster does.”
The Athletic’s Zach Harper called on the league to step in.
“Commissioner Silver has to address something when it’s becoming personal enough for referees to allegedly mention a player’s family,” Harper wrote in a story published November 27. “Some teams or players have bad luck with certain officials, but Foster seems to be infamous for all the wrong reasons. … They can’t run from this problem anymore.”
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