Amid rumors that Scott Foster would be one of the officials for Game 7 between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA announced the three referee assignments on Sunday morning and he was not among them.
James Capers, Josh Tiven and Sean Wright are the officials assigned to the game, with James Williams serving as an alternate. David Guthrie will be the replay center official.
Foster was expected to be chosen for Game 7 with 18 NBA Finals series and 26 Finals games on his résumé. He was the crew chief for Game 4 and the other officials who held that role in the Pacers-Thunder series’ previous three games were all assigned a second game.
Those referees are Game 1’s John Goble, Game 2’s Zach Zarba and Capers in Game 3. Gable went on to work Game 5, while Zarba was assigned to Game 6.
Foster’s Game 4 performance drew heavy criticism from Indiana fans, who noted that Oklahoma City shot 38 free throws compared to 31 for the Pacers. Among the most public detractors of Foster’s work was The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, who called his officiating “an abomination” on “The Zach Lowe Show” podcast following Game 4.
“It was a typical Scott Foster all over the map, just involved like weird stoppages, missed calls, like calling touch fouls, then not calling somebody getting clubbed in the head,” Simmons said. “They had no control of this entire game. There was over 70 free throws.”
“Both coaches were mad. Both benchers were mad,” he added. “Everyone was mad. There was no rhyme or reason.”
However, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle defended Foster before Game 5, calling him “a great official.”
“I think it’s awful some of the things I’ve seen about officiating, and Scott Foster in particular,” Carlisle said last Sunday.
“I’ve known Scott Foster for 30 years. He is a great official,” he added. “He has done a great job in these playoffs. We’ve had him a lot of times. The ridiculous scrutiny that is being thrown out there is terrible and unfair and unjust and stupid.”
Foster is consistently ranked among the NBA’s top referees based on the league’s ratings system that includes input from the 30 teams. Yet he’s been a controversial figure among NBA fans for years, earning him the derisive nickname “The Extender” for questionable calls that have arguably extended playoff series. However, Yahoo Sports contributor Tom Haberstroh provided analysis that disproved that assertion.
