Chris Paul has beaten pretty much everybody in the NBA postseason, but his toughest opponent historically hasn't even been a player. No, if you look at the numbers, Paul has struggled most against referee Scott Foster. The future Hall of Famer lost his previous 13 playoff games officiated by Foster prior to Tuesday night (though his Suns managed to win Game 2 of the 2021 Western Conference Finals without Paul in a game officiated by Foster).
Foster officiated Paul's first Game 7, a New Orleans Hornets loss to the San Antonio Spurs in 2008. He officiated several key games involving Paul's Houston Rockets, and later, his final game as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder in what turned out to be a loss to those same Rockets. He even officiated Games 3 and 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals, both losses by the Suns, the latter of which ended their season. Paul had a 2-17 overall playoff record with Foster officiating in addition to that 13-game losing streak. For the past decade or so, winning a Foster game has been as elusive for Paul as a championship has been.
It will be at least another few months before Paul potentially wins that championship, but he did manage to get at least one monkey off of his back on Tuesday. With Foster in the building, the Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers to tie their first-round series at 1-1 and officially end Paul's 13-game playoff losing streak in games officiated by Foster. Paul scored 16 points in the victory, but did not attempt a single free throw.
While the streak is finally over, their relationship is unlikely to ever truly thaw. Paul himself has met with the NBA to discuss his issues with Foster, and after 2021's Game 3 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, Paul said "11 in a row" multiple times to reporters in reference to his losses in Foster games. In an anonymous player poll published this week by The Athletic, Foster got more votes for "Who is the worst ref?" than any other official.
Foster was responsible for one of the most controversial officiating moments of this season when he ejected Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes at the end of a close game against the Denver Nuggets for reasons that weren't immediately clear on the broadcast. He eventually explained that Barnes "used verbiage that which directly questioned the integrity of the crew."
The Paul-Foster feud will likely never truly end, but the league is surely happy to put the streak and all of its unsavory connotations to bed once and for all. Now Paul can focus on leading the Suns to their first championship. He'll probably see Foster again at some point along the way, but if he does, he now knows that winning such games is at least possible.
