OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Scott Foster was selected to officiate the NBA Finals for the 18th time, the league said Tuesday when announcing the roster of 12 officials and two alternates that were picked to work the title series between Indiana and Oklahoma City.
Foster is the most veteran of the group. Tony Brothers and Marc Davis were both picked for the 14th time, James Capers for the 13th time, Zach Zarba for the 12th time and John Goble for the ninth time in his career.
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David Guthrie is now an eight-time selection for the finals, while Josh Tiven was picked for the sixth time, James Williams for a fifth time and Sean Wright for a second time.
There are two first-time selections this season: Tyler Ford and Ben Taylor. They were alternates in each of the last two seasons.
“We are grateful for these 12 individuals and their dedication to serving the game at the highest levels throughout the season,” said Byron Spruell, the NBA President for League Operations. “Being selected to work the NBA Finals is the top honor as an NBA official, and I congratulate this exceptional group on a worthy achievement.”
Courtney Kirkland and Kevin Scott were picked as alternates. Foster has officiated the most NBA Finals games among this year’s referees with 25, while Davis has worked 21 and Brothers has worked 17.
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If previous form holds, each of the 12 will work one of the first four games in the series as part of a standard three-person crew. If the series goes past Game 4, the NBA will continue assigning as needed from the same pool for the remainder of the matchup.
NBA Finals officials were selected based on their overall performance throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. Officials were evaluated by the NBA Referee Operations management team after each round to determine advancement in this year’s postseason, the league said.
The crews for each game are typically announced around 9 a.m. Eastern on game days.
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