Mutual hostility. The story of the conflict between Chris Paul and Scott Foster.

The other day there was a new round of a long conflict between the eminent referee Scott Foster and the point guard Chris Paul. During a game with the Phoenix Suns, Paul collided with Kevin Durant, for which Chris received a foul. While Kevin was shooting the free throws, one of the best playmakers of his generation was actively talking to Foster, disagreeing with the referee’s decision. The discussion became increasingly tense, eventually leading to the point guard receiving two technicals in a row, forcing the player to leave the court.

A transcript of the conversation was released last night.

Chris Poel: Did I interfere? Was it on its way? This is bullshit! Encourage: No, this is not nonsense. Enough. Chris Pablo: get out of here!

Paul later yelled at Foster for mentioning his son: “You’re talking about my son!”

The video can be seen on Chaz NBA’s YouTube channel. Video rights belong to NBA MEDIA VENTURES, LLC.

In the post-match press conference, Chris stated that he had a personal conflict with Foster related to the player’s son.

“It’s personal. We had a situation a few years ago and it’s personal. The league knows it, everyone knows it. This is my son’s situation. I don’t care about the referee talking, saying whatever he wants, just don’t use fouls techniques to get your point across. I have to work to stay on the court for my teammates. But this is reality.

He knows what I’m talking about. I had a meeting with him, my father, Doc Rivers, Bob Delaney and everyone else. This was when he was with the Clippers. Quite an event. It was a long time ago. “I don’t say anything on the court to get fined like that,” CBS Sports quoted Paul as saying.

There are no further details on what exactly happened.

Scott Foster and Chris Paul.

Photo: Steve Dykes/Getty Images

The story of the conflict between Paul and Foster began in 2008. In his third season in the NBA, Chris Paul reached the playoffs for the first time. Playing for the New Orleans Pelicans, Chris helped the team get through the first round, after which they faced the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. The Louisiana team was able to win the first two games of the series, but Greg Popovich’s Texas team was able to level the situation and reduce the confrontation to the seventh game.

In that same game, Foster was one of the referees: the Pelicans ended up losing. But there were no special complaints from the referee against Foster in that game, but that’s why we tell this. In 2020, before game seven of the first round of the Western Conference between the Oklahoma City Thunder, where Paul was then playing, and the Houston Rockets, Foster approached Chris and reminded him that he was then among the referees in that 2008 offensive game. . . Why would a referee remind a player of something like this before a match?

Paul’s time with the Clippers was filled with setbacks and dramatic defeats. Despite the team’s stellar makeup, the team never managed to reach the conference finals in any season. Here the point of view begins to form among some fans that Chris Paul is a loser, who is unreliable in the most decisive moments. The point guard’s defeats under Foster continued, the internal situation became tense, but the basketball player began to speak publicly about Scott after moving to the Rockets.

Scott Foster and Chris Paul

Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The Rockets, who for several years competed with the dominant Warriors, sometimes even better than Cleveland, ultimately failed to reach the coveted championship. During Paul’s tenure with the Texas team, Houston lost six playoff games with Scott as the referee and failed to win a single game.

In January 2018, Chris Paul spoke publicly about Foster after receiving a technical foul during a lost regular season game.

“Well, what can I say. It was classic Scott Foster,” Paul said in a postgame interview.

In February 2019, Harden, who also has a special history with Foster, spoke alongside Chris.

“What can I say about refereeing? It was Scott Foster. I generally try not to talk about the judges, but he always behaves rudely and arrogantly. How can you build healthy relationships with judges in a situation like this? I’m not even talking about any specific mistake of his, but rather about how he behaves on the court. He is very frustrating. With him you can’t express your opinion, you can’t discuss anything, you immediately get a technical opinion.

I’m sure he does it for personal reasons. I don’t think he should be allowed to officiate our games at all,” Harden said in a postgame interview.

Scott Foster and Chris Paul

Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

A breakup with Harden led Paul to the Thunder. It seemed like the team didn’t really have a chance to show anything, and Chris would wait for the opportunity to return to the “contender”. However, the team showed fighting qualities, made the playoffs and fought on equal terms with Houston to reach the second round. Game 7, Foster’s reminder of Paul’s failure in 2008, the loss and another press conference, where Chris, fighting back tears, again openly criticized Scott.

“How about a delay of game whistle? The practice in the “bubble” is that when a controversial moment occurs, coaches and players prefer to take a short pause to have time to watch a replay of the incident and decide whether to exercise the right to review the moment. Everyone did this, there were no problems.

Usually this happens, I need to shoot, but I start tying my laces so that the coach has time to see the replay on the general screen. At that moment, Scott Foster comes up to me and tells me that I don’t need to put on this theater, that now they will wash the floors there, take a break, etc. I agreed and reached up to tie my shoelaces. But in the end he still whistled, saying that I was delaying the game. This shit didn’t make any sense!

I don’t know, he… We could have won the game, but this situation… yeah, well, you understand everything yourself. They will fine me, I said his name, everyone knows the story,” Paul said after the game.

Chris Paul and Scott Foster

Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Paul joined Phoenix and led the team to the playoffs from second place in the West after the organization failed to reach the postseason for 10 years. In the first round of the 2020-2021 playoffs, the Suns faced the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers. After losing the third game of the rivalry, Chris reminded the audience of the incredible statistics from the games with Scott Foster.

“If I was betting… 11 games in a row. 11 losses in a row. You understand everything yourself,” Paul said veiledly at a press conference.

Paul was finally able to qualify for the first final of his life. After two wins at the start of the final series with Milwaukee, four straight losses followed. The final sixth game of the matchup was officiated by Scott Foster. Who else?

Therefore, if we describe the general statistics of Paul’s games under Foster’s refereeing, a fairly clear picture emerges. Of 20 matches of this type, in 15 the favorite was the team in which Paul played, but Chris only managed to win three matches with 17 losses. After the incident the day before yesterday, there has been renewed talk that Foster should be banned from officiating games involving the veteran point guard. Perhaps because the personal issues between Scott and Chris have been publicized, the league will finally take action.

A look to the past:

“Oklahoma Hornets”: what was it? Hurricane Katrina and Chris Paul’s first year in the NBA