The NBA announced the officials and referees assigned to this year’s NBA Finals between the Heat and the Nuggets, which begins on Thursday, June 1.
Even though Marc Davis, David Guthrie and Ed Malloy will serve as Game 1’s officiating crew in Denver, the most talked about news from the announcement is that controversial referees Scott Foster and Tony Brothers will work during the Finals.
This will be Foster’s 16th season working the NBA Finals, having already worked 23 Finals games during his career. Brothers has worked 15 Finals games and will prepare for his 12th season working the Finals.
It’s unknown which games Foster and Brothers will currently work, either together or separately, as the NBA reveals the crew for each game in the morning before each tilt.
The duo most recently worked Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Heat and the Celtics. Luckily for both officials and the fans, nothing too controversial came out of that game.
Foster is known for being disliked among players in the league. Just recently, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Josh Robbins conducted a survey with anonymous NBA players and Foster was voted the worst referee in the league, receiving over 25% of the vote.
Foster is also notorious for being the kryptonite for Suns guard Chris Paul as Paul had lost 13 straight playoff games when Foster was on the crew, a streak that finally ended in this year’s postseason.
