There isn’t a single referee currently working in the NBA who’s managed to attract more controversy than Scott Foster, and the officiating veteran has gotten the chance to address his divisive reputation in an interview where he broke his silence on his feud with Chris Paul.
Scott Foster has been refereeing NBA games for close to 30 years, and while it’s pretty clear the league views him as one of its best officials based on the number of big games he’s worked during that span, most players and fans would beg to differ.
It’s impossible to talk about Foster without discussing his connection to disgraced ref Tim Donaghy, as there’s been plenty of attention paid to the 134 phone calls the two men had in the months leading up to the latter getting arrested and sent to prison in the wake of the FBI investigation that determined he’d illegally influenced games.
Foster was never implicated in the scandal, but plenty of people (as well as Rudy Gobert) have had trouble ignoring his history of questionable calls and some patterns that are very hard to ignore—like the fact that teams with Chris Paul on their roster have gone 3-17 in the playoffs since 2008, which included a streak of 13 consecutive losses.
That feud was thrust to the forefront toward the beginning of the current NBA season when Paul was ejected by Foster in the wake of a very heated exchange, an incident that led to Gilbert Arenas sharing a story about the ref swearing at Paul’s young son following a game during the guard’s time with the Clippers.
On Monday, The Athletic published a lengthy profile of Foster where the ref got the chance to respond to those accusations. Based on his account of what went down, Paul blew things out of proportion, as he claimed he simply honked his horn after CP3 and his son stepped in front of his car, saying:
“I got home the next day and was told there were accusations made that I did something unprofessional. The NBA did an investigation and found there was nothing found that needed to be discussed or anybody talked to. And that was the end of that.”
He also confirmed he met with Paul (as well as Doc Rivers) in the wake of the incident but declined to offer any insight into what transpired, saying, “I was told that meeting was private, and that it would stay private forever, and that’s what I’m sticking to.”
The Athletic gave Paul the chance to respond but he declined to say anything of note, hinting he’s waiting to retire until he shares his thoughts on the matter to avoid potential retribution from Foster, other refs, and the league.
There’s no telling how long we’re going to have to wait before Paul decides to hang up his sneakers, but it sounds like we have something to look forward to.
The post Controversial NBA Ref Scott Foster Disputes Chris Paul’s Claims While Addressing Their Feud For The First Time appeared first on BroBible.