Pacers’ Rick Carlisle Defends NBA Ref Scott Foster Over 'Stupid' Scrutiny

The Thunder surged past Indiana to win a physical contest.

Rick Carlisle argues with referee Josh Tiven during the 2025 NBA Finals. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Scott Foster may be the NBA's only active celebrity referee. The official's poor reputation with players—they voted him the league's worst referee in a 2023 poll taken by The Athletic—has won him a kind of cult notoriety.

On Friday, Foster's foibles were on full display as he officiated the Oklahoma City Thunder's win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. He called significantly more fouls than either of his two fellow referees in a close, choppy contest.

As the basketball world turns its attention to Game 5, an unlikely defender of Foster emerged Sunday—Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.

"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 via Dan Devine of Yahoo! Sports. "I’ve known Scott Foster for 30 years. He’s a great official. He’s done a great job in these playoffs. We’ve had him a lot of times, and the ridiculous scrutiny that’s being thrown out there is terrible, and unfair, and unjust. It’s stupid."

Carlisle, increasingly recognized as one of the best coaches of his generation, would be in a position to know (Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, Devine noted, also praised the officiating in Game 4). That will likely be little salve to armchair point guards from Elkhart, Ind. to Enid, Okla., however.

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