James Capers, Josh Tiven and Sean Wright joined a very small club on Sunday.
Capers, Tiven and Wright were announced by the NBA as the officiating crew for Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. It’s the first Game 7 of a finals for all three, who are now the 22nd, 23rd and 24th referees in NBA history to land such an assignment.
“Being selected to work the NBA Finals is the top honor as an NBA official,” Byron Spruell, the NBA’s president of league operations, said earlier this month when the 12-person list of finals referees was revealed.
And Game 7, one would think, is the top of the top honors.
Scott Foster, a two-time Game 7 finals referee and generally considered one of the best in the game, was not picked for the crew. Had he been, he would have become the seventh referee picked to work at least three Game 7s in the title series. The referees in NBA history who have worked that many are Mendy Rudolph (six), Earl Strom (five), Sid Borgia (four), Dan Crawford (three), Joe Crawford (three) and Richie Powers (three).
Foster — who is frequently criticized online by fans — was defended by Indiana coach Rick Carlisle after Game 4, notable because it was a game that the Pacers lost.
“As far as officiating, I think it’s awful some of the things I’ve seen about the officiating, and Scott Foster in particular,” Carlisle said before Game 5. “I’ve known Scott Foster for 30 years. He is a great official. 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.”
The NBA had 75 full-time officials this season and 36 of those were selected to work the first round of the playoffs. The officiating roster is further trimmed going into each playoff round, with the league’s referee operations management team determining who should advance.
Capers is working his 13th finals, Tiven his sixth and Wright is in the finals for only the second time. It’s the second game of these finals for all three referees — Capers worked Indiana’s win in Game 3, while Wright and Tiven were both on the crew for Oklahoma City’s win in Game 4.
James Williams, who worked Games 2 and 5 of the series, was picked as the alternate for Game 7. David Guthrie, who officiated Games 1 and 6, was the referee assigned to the replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey, for Game 7.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault addressed officiating — and how he and his team respect referees — from a general perspective Saturday, when asked how his team has avoided being called for very many technical fouls this season.
“The outcome of the game and the context of the game is outside of our control,” Daigneault said. “In between the lines is inside our control. The referees (are) in that category, too. We can’t control how they call the game and what they put a whistle on and what they don’t. We can control a lot of other things in the game, and that’s what we need to focus on.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.Â
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