Nicknamed "Agent 48" and "The Extender" because teams trailing in a playoff series have often won games he has officiated, thus lengthening the series, Foster's refereeing has drawn criticism from fans and players.[1][2][3] In an anonymized survey of nearly three dozen NBA players by the Los Angeles Times in 2016 and a separate anonymized survey of 108 NBA players by The Athletic in 2023, he was voted the worst referee in the NBA.[4][5]
Early life
Foster was born on April 8, 1967, in Silver Spring, Maryland. His father, Dickie Foster, was a firefighter for Montgomery County, Maryland.[6] Whenever Foster coached his younger brothers' basketball games at his local recreation center, he was required to officiate the following game, sparking his interest in becoming a referee.[6]
Before his career in the NBA, Foster worked as a referee for two years in the Continental Basketball Association and had officiated college and high school basketball games. In his second season of officiating NBA games, Foster was assigned to his first nationally televised game, an April 1996 match between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns. When the Lakers' point guard, Magic Johnson, bumped into Foster while contesting a call, Foster ejected Johnson, leading to the latter controversially receiving a three-game suspension and $10,000 fine.[6]
Critics of Foster have asserted that he issues technical fouls for seemingly arbitrary reasons, misses crucial foul calls, and favors certain teams. In February 2019, James Harden called Foster “rude and arrogant.”[3][1][2] While serving as President of the National Basketball Players Association, Chris Paul often denounced Foster for favoring certain teams and players.[6]
Allegations of sports betting
Foster's relationship with former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who pled guilty to two federal charges for match fixing in August 2007, has been called into question. According to court records, Donaghy made 134 phone calls to Foster between October 2006 and April 2007, during which Donaghy admitted to betting on games or passing on game information to gamblers. The majority of the calls lasted less than two minutes and occurred shortly before and after games that Donaghy officiated and gambled on.[12]
During the scandal, the NBA hired Lawrence Pedowitz of the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate Donaghy. In an October 2008 report, Pedowitz concluded that despite being interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in August 2007 as a possible co-conspirator, Foster was likely innocent.[6][13] Pedowitz framed Foster's frequent, short calls to Donaghy as consistent with Foster's communications with other referees while on the road, noting that Foster's mobile network operator would record a call that went to voicemail as either one or two minutes long.[14]
In March 2024, NBA player Rudy Gobert was fined $100,000 for rubbing his fingers together in a money gesture at Foster during a game. In a post-game interview, Gobert implied that Foster was unfairly officiating games due to his sports gambling interests.[15]
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