Adam Silver Addressed Chris Paul And Scott Foster’s Feud: ‘You Don’t Have To Be Friends…But Do Your Jobs’

Chris Paul and NBA referee Scott Foster have been at odds for years, and their feud is one of the strangest of the very public beefs in the NBA.

That recently resurfaced in a game two weeks ago when Paul got ejected by Foster during a game against the Suns, calling Foster a “b*tch” as he exited the court. After the game, Paul explained that his issue with Foster runs far deeper than most knew, saying it’s “personal,” involved his son at one point, and led to a sitdown between Paul, Foster, the Clippers, and the league years ago.

It’s all very strange and becomes the storyline every time Foster officiates one of Paul’s games. Naturally, that’s not a very tenable situation given Foster often gets top game assignments and Paul plays for one of the league’s most prominent franchises. On Wednesday, Adam Silver was asked about their feud and what the league has said to both of them about it on Sirius XM NBA Radio, and explained that the expectation is they both go out and do their jobs.

The question, of course, is whether Silver thinks that’s happening right now. The stats on Chris Paul playing in Scott Foster officiated games are well known, as he’s 3-17 lifetime in playoff games called by Foster, and it’s clear from their most recent incident that they have trouble setting aside whatever their differences are during games. Many have wondered why the NBA keeps putting Foster on Paul’s games, but the league seems to not want to set a precedent of moving a ref off of a team’s game due to a problem with a player.

In fairness to Silver, it’s pretty wild that these two can’t move on from whatever started this whole thing, but we have a long sample showing neither is willing to drop this. The result is an odd tension for those games and no real resolution, with history seemingly doomed to repeat itself the next time Foster gets assigned to the Warriors.