The Golden State Warriors are prepping for their win-or-go-home play-in tournament game on Friday night, and held a voluntary shootaround in the morning in Phoenix, with the Suns on the docket in just hours. The Warriors’ reward if they can come up with a win is a playoff series against the Thunder, the defending champions and No. 1 seed in the West. That would be a virtually impossible task, but after Golden State rallied to beat the Clippers behind 35 points from Stephen Curry in the first play-in on Wednesday, there is a sense that what matters most now is just getting to see this team play a little longer, now that Curry is healthy.
And, in the court of public perception, the Warriors may have caught a break on Friday afternoon when it was announced that the officiating crew would include Scott Foster, the controversial referee who has had issues with players and teams in the past, but also has a reputation for aiding the team that the league would most like to see advance in the playoffs.
Again, that might not exactly be fair to say of Foster, whose “The Extender” nickname goes to his reputation for nudging playoff series to go longer. But it’s out there, and he will be overseeing a game that is sure to have plenty of opportunity for whistles.
Warriors & Suns Have 2 of NBA’s Most Hotheaded Players
After all, the Suns and Warriors feature two players who are consistently among the leaders in technical fouls each season, and this year is no different. Phoenix agitator Dillon Brooks has committed a league-high 17 technicals this season, while Draymond Green has committed 13, third in the NBA. It was just three years ago that both Brooks and Green were suspended for surpassing the league limit of 16 technical fouls–Brooks led the NBA with 18 in 2023, and Green was second with 17.
It should be pointed out, in the case of Scott Foster, that most teams actually feel he is a reasonably fair referee, though his reputation is weighed down by his close friendship with disgraced ex-referee Tim Donaghy and by his antagonistic relationship with Chris Paul, whom he once ejected from a game while Paul was with the Warriors, after which Paul declared, “It’s personal.”
In his career, Foster has refereed 130 Warriors games, and Golden State is 64-66. He’s done 109 Suns games, and they’re 58-51.
Scott Foster Not Likely to Create an Advantage
That sort of thing will be attached to the Warriors-Suns play-in on Friday.
Dan Greenberg of Barstool wrote on Twitter/X: “I‘m sure it’s a total coincidence that Scott Foster got assigned to GS/PHX tonight with the potential of SGA vs Steph in Round 1 should the Warriors win.”
But veteran writer Tim Kawakami, now of the San Francisco Standard, pointed out that the presence of Foster will bring attention, but is not likely to decide winner or loser.
He wrote: “50% of Angry Fans are sure that Foster will guarantee a LOSS for the Warriors. 50% of Angry Fans are sure that Foster will guarantee a WIN for the Warriors. Maybe you guys are just trying to figure out somebody to blame ahead of time for a random event? Naw, couldn’t be that.”
NBA Announces Controversial Referee for Warriors-Suns Play-In Game