Official 2026 NBA Officials Thread

[MacNeacail]

Way back in 2014, I used to do little write-ups on Facebook for my family so they'd know what to expect for each Spurs playoff game or series. I haven't really done it since, but the first 2 games of this series got me thinking about the refs again. There were so many bad calls.

Spoiler: Example of my posts:

Spurs / Thunder Gm3 Refs:
It pains me to say that I've written about two of these refs last year (and not in a favorable manner).
Scott Foster - Spurs record in the playoffs (as of last year) with Foster as chief ref: 1-7. Yes, this is the same Scott Foster who has 8 pages devoted to him in the FBI investigation into the NBA ref scandal with Tim Donaghey. Foster officiated not only the 2nd worst officiated game of last year (SAS-MEM Gm2) but also the worst officiated game (SAS-MIA Gm4)... PLUS game 7 in the finals. He likes to make calls for the losing team to keep games close.
Bill Kennedy - was on the same ref crew with Foster in last year's horribly called games. He has a habit of calling fouls when a team goes on a run to stop momentum (also to keep games close).
Tom Washington - I don't know much about him other than his record favors the home team more than the league average.
With Ibaka back, I can see him getting away with everything. He will be able to clog the lane and make us a jump shooting team. The Spurs will have to have an all-around good game to win tonight. Still no Tony Brother's tonight, but I fully expect the Spurs tonight to be playing 5 on 8.

(and then the beginning of the next game's post):

Spurs / Thunder Gm4 Refs:
In case anyone is wondering just how much effect the refs have on games... the Thunder set an NBA record for the most free throw attempts in a quarter in Gm3 (22 - The average FTs a teams takes is 20-21 per game). In fact, the Thunder had 31 free throws to Spurs 7 until the last 3 minutes of the game when the refs started calling everything in favor of the spurs to try to even it out (yes, I believe the refs tried to cover up what they were doing after the game was out of hand). To those who say the Thunder were just more aggressive... yes, they were... but they were able to be more aggressive when the refs allow them to. And the Spurs are now 1-8 with Scott Foster as chief ref in recent history.

It's amazing that quite a few of the refs I wrote about back then are still officiating now.

Anyway, I'm trying to get a feel of the new refs, but I haven't paid attention to them until recently. So I went to basketball reference to get some stats (also ChatGPT and also Googled whatever articles I could find). Anyway, here's what I found for tonight's refs.

Relative FGA: How many shots are taken by both teams total (relative to league average)
Relative FGA Range: -3.0 (slow) through +2.9 (fast)
Relative PF: How many fouls are called by both teams total (relative to league average)
Relative PF Range: -1.5 (no calls) through 2.7 (lots of calls)
Home Minus Visitor PF: Do home or visitor teams get foul calls more (relative to league average)
Home Minus Visitor PF Range: -1.9 (favors home) through +1.8 (favors road)
Home Minus Visitor W/L%: Do home or visitor teams win the game more (relative to league average)
Home Minus Visitor W/L% Range: -.320 (road team wins) through +.462 (home team wins)

Refs are listed in order by: Crew Chief / Referee / Umpire (which is basically a hierarchy of who can override who when disagreements happen)

Gm3:
James Williams (#60) 14th season
The Referee with the most techs given in the past 3 years. He is a "high-control" referee (he likes the be the one in charge). "Devin Booker called out referee James Williams by name after losing to OKC." (This year's Gm2)
Overall RTA: +2.0 FGA (faster pace), -1.4 PF (less stopping)
H-V RTA: +0.1 PF (near league average), +.110 W/L% (home winning edge)

Kevin Scott (#24) 13th season
Balanced pacing. Overall a solid ref that allows for a smooth game. Transition-heavy teams do well with him officiating.
Overall RTA: +0.7 FGA (balanced pace), +0.2 PF (less stopping)
H-V RTA: +0.4 PF (neutral/slight road team), +.149 W/L% (home winning edge)

Brian Forte (#45) 19th season
Often calls paint contact and rebounding fouls more tightly (protecting offensive players in traffic should favor aggressive rim attackers). Less tolerant of overly physical defense.
Overall RTA: -1.9 FGA (slow pace), -0.3 PF (slightly less than avg calls)
H-V RTA: +0.1 PF (near league average), -.183 W/L% (road winning edge)


Overall the aggressive team will have the advantage as long as they don't speak up against James Williams.

"The best way to overcome bad refs: a blowout win."

https://twitter.com/x/status/2047348211233304650

 

[scott]

Great thread, @MacNeacail!

If it's not too much to ask, can you show these stats for the crews we had in Game 1 and Game 2? It would be interesting to compare what their stats say with the perception of how we felt those games were called.

 

[MacNeacail]

Great thread, @MacNeacail!

If it's not too much to ask, can you show these stats for the crews we had in Game 1 and Game 2? It would be interesting to compare what their stats say with the perception of how we felt those games were called.

Of course... just running out of time right now before I pick up the kids from school. I'll try to get to it before tonight's game.

 

[MacNeacail]

Keep in mind, it's not only hard to find strong tendencies from only stats, but refs work in teams of 3 so not every call or decision was made by them... and teams can definitely overcome ref bias in a blowout. I tend to get caught up in the emotion of the game so I don't remember how these were called. I just remember a few "Ref you suck" chants.

Gm1:

JB DeRosa (#22) 9th season
Wants to be in control. Will break the flow of a game with calls.
Overall RTA: -0.4 FGA (balanced pace), -0.2 PF (near average)
H-V RTA: 0.0 PF (league average), -.032 W/L% (near average)

Courtney Kirkland (#61) 24th season
Balanced veteran style. Maintains steady pacing and avoids interrupting flow.
Overall RTA: 0.0 FGA (league average), -0.1 PF (near average)
H-V RTA: -0.4 PF (slightly favors home), -.109 W/L% (near average)

Josh Tiven (#58) 14th season
Rewards offensive initiators on drives and jump-shot contact. Higher fouls in guard-heavy games.
Overall RTA: -0.2 FGA (near average), -1.3 PF (no calls)
H-V RTA: 0.0 PF (league average), -.109 W/L% (near average)

All in all, the league picked the most average ref crew for this game. Technicals to assert control if needed. Higher FTs for attacking guards. Better team should win.

Gm2:

John Goble (#10) 17th season
"By the (rule)book". Favors teams that are disciplined and teams that attack closeouts legally. More calls if teams play aggressive perimeter defense.
Overall RTA: +1.1 FGA (balanced/quick-ish), -0.4 PF (less calls)
H-V RTA: +0.6 PF (slightly favors road), +.071 W/L% (near average)

Curtis Blair (#74) 18th season
Lets players play until tensions rise, then calls fouls quickly. Better for halfcourt teams.
Overall RTA: -1.8 FGA (slow pace), -0.6 PF (less calls)
H-V RTA: -0.2 PF (fairly balanced), +.200 W/L% (home winning edge)

Brent Barnaky (#36) 16th season
Usually unobtrusive. Lets the teams determine the style of play (lets teams play physically if both are playing physically). Favors physical rebounders.
Overall RTA: -0.1 FGA (balanced pace), +0.4 PF (slightly more calls)
H-V RTA: +0.1 PF (near average), -.044 W/L% (near average)

I didn't get to watch the first half of the game so I don't know how the game was called early. I would assume here that there would be at least once where a ref contradicts another ref. I would assume a physical game would be allowed, but a lot of calls on the perimeter with sloppy defense. This favors a strong inside team.

 

[MacNeacail]

Well, it was nice to hear the "ref you suck!" chant coming from a different crowd. Fouls were pretty even SAS 25 - POR 24, and FTAs SAS 28 - POR 29.

When Fox already had 3 fouls and was called for offensive charge, I was yelling at the screen for him to not yell at the ref. I thought for sure James Williams was gonna call a Tech. It was actually Brian Forte who called the tech. I went through the play by play to see who called what fouls and I think this is what happened:

2nd Qtr :22.1 Spurs Coach's Challenge D.Fox Offensive (K.Scott): Technical Foul D.Fox (B.Forte) Call Overturned: Corrected to Personal Foul on D. Avdija (J.Williams)

Scott called the offensive charge, Fox went to Forte to complain and got the tech, and Williams overturned the first call.

The game ended up -0.5 FGA relative to league average which is pretty close to normal. But there were more fouls called than average.

 

[scott]

Great stuff!

Loudest Ref You Suck chants I’ve heard, on TV and in person, are at Ball Arena in Denver

 

[ambchang]

I personally think the crowd was expecting a lot of calls for flops by avdija but wasn’t getting them, then castle was able to get quite a few touchy fouls that I normally wouldn’t expect on the road. Oddly enough I thought the game was actually fairly called, with the spurs having a slight advantage, like 55/45, when the road team generally gets like 45/55 calls. Coupled with the blazers getting like 60/40 the last two games I guess the crowd was expecting like 70/30 calls this game.

Also tbf, castle did a couple of head snaps and the refs didn’t call them, so he was smart enough not to keep doing it.

 

[STAT88]

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Scott Foster aka the extender might need to get his eyes checked

 

[MacNeacail]

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Scott Foster aka the extender might need to get his eyes checked

Ah yes, the same Scott Foster who has 8 pages devoted to him in the FBI investigation into the NBA ref scandal with Tim Donaghey.

 

[Corso]

Toney Brothers = Satan

 

[MacNeacail]

It's funny, we have Zach Zarba as our crew chief today. I wrote about him in the 2014 playoffs.

Zach Zarba - has never worked the Finals. He's not a particularly BAD ref, but Pop can't stand him. They have history. Zarba will guess on close plays (kinda like what happened on the Wade flop). Miami is 4-0 with Zarba, Spurs are 3-2.

Hopefully, his experience since then has made him better and he no longer has to guess about what happened.


Zach Zarba (#15) 21st season
"Let them play" style. I guess if you don't know what's going on you tend to call things less. Favors physical defensive teams, aggressive rebounding teams, and playoff-style basketball. Not good for teams expecting touch fouls. He's more restrained when it comes to calling technical fouls. He will talk things out with players before punishing them with a tech.
Overall RTA: +1.4 FGA (faster pace), -0.2 PF (near average)
H-V RTA: +1.3 PF (favors road team), +.024 W/L% (near average)

The other 2 refs are the opposite (style-wise). They like to be a little more strict vs physical play (at least in the regular season). They may allow more physicality in the playoffs (especially with Zarba as crew chief).

Justin Van Duyne (#64)
"Control through enforcement". Focuses more on perimeter contact.
Overall RTA: 0.0 FGA (league average), -0.5 PF (slightly less calls)
H-V RTA: -0.3 PF (slightly favors home), -.032 W/L% (near average)
Andy Nagy (#83)
"Drive contact sensitive". This will benefit rim attackers. Fast, transition teams have an advantage because this ref will call transition contact quickly.
Overall RTA: -0.8 FGA (slow to balanced pace), +0.2 PF (near average)
H-V RTA: +0.8 PF (slightly favors road), -.044 W/L% (near average)



Feels like the league wants Wemby to proceed to the next round, but doesn't feel he needs help. These refs seem right in the middle of the pack as far as biases go (pretty fair). I think the foul count will balance out between the 3 of them. Most fouls should come from "handsy defenders who reach out".