Former NBA Referee Has Strong Words For Former Wizard

Tyrone Montgomery | May 22, 2024

Apr 14, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul (3) reacts to referee Kevin Cutler during the second quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

Over the years, the game of basketball has had it's fair share of hot heads both on and off the court. Guys that come to mind are guys like Rasheed Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest (Metta World Peace), Draymond Green, Charles Barkley, Kevin Garnett, Dennis Rodman, and even Karl Malone. The list goes on as I failed to mention any guards such as Gary Payton. It seems as if most of the jaw breakers are forwards and centers.

Over time, the referees in the NBA know and become familiar with these players that begin to have a reputation. They tend to not look forward to officiating those games with those players because they know that they may be in for a long night. They know that their stress level may be elevated as they are trying their best to do their job efficiently.

Former Washington Wizard guard Chris Paul is amongst those players who are deemed as difficult to work with when it comes to officiating an NBA game. If you have any doubts, all you have to do is ask former NBA Referee Bill Spooner who has officiating games for over 30 years. He brought up Chris Paul as being one of the most difficult guys to deal with.

Former NBA ref of 32 years, Bill Spooner:

“I get asked all the time: ‘Who are some of the tough guys, some of the bad guys?’ And when I tell them that Chris Paul, in my 32 years in the league, was one of the biggest a–holes I ever dealt with, they say, ‘Not Rasheed Wallace … or… pic.twitter.com/8DwuR6p4fp

— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) May 20, 2024

Chris Paul has been known throughout his entire basketball career to be a team player and a guy to get along with others simply by his style of play on the basketball court. He is a pass-first player. However, Spooner went on to say that while Chris Paul may seem like a nice guy, he's really a great image cultivator.