© Isaiah J. Downing | 2018 Nov 5
If you were hoping all this chatter about the referees would soon die down, the NBA’s assignment for Tuesday’s Game 2 between the Warriors and Rockets is not going to help matters. Veteran official Scott Foster, who both James Harden and Chris Paul have had public issues with, will serve as the crew chief for the game.
It will be the first time Foster has officiated a Rockets game since Feb. 21, when Harden criticized Foster, saying the issue between the two was personal. Harden fouled out of that game, and was fined $25,000 by the league for his comments.
“It’s lingering, and it’s something that has to be looked at for sure,” said Harden, who described Foster as “just rude and arrogant” when interacting with players. “For sure, it’s personal. For sure. I don’t think he should be able to even officiate our games anymore, honestly.”
Paul also had issues with Foster two years ago, and went so far as to meet with the league office regarding what he believes is poor conduct by Foster.
“I don’t know what else to do,” Paul said.
Foster officiated two of the Rockets’ losses in last year’s Western Conference Finals vs. the Warriors, including Game 7, a game Houston told the league they were robbed of winning due to poor officiating.
The NBA assigns officials to the first four games of a playoff series before the series begins.