NBA

Ex-NBA referee describes Chris Paul as ‘one of the biggest a**holes I ever dealt with’

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As we go deeper into the playoffs, details start to become more important, and with this, players, coaches and referees are held to a higher standard. So if any of them fail, complaints are harsher than ever. A lot of those accusations are focused on officials, and in recent years Scott Foster has been at the top of that list. 

However, the infamous ref also has his share of protests towards many athletes, including Chris Paul, with whom he shares a long history of on-court clashes. In a recent interview, ex-NBA official Bill Spooner defended Foster and blamed CP3 for their conflicts. 

“I’m going to tell you, and I know you are recording me, but I get asked all the time: ‘Who are some of the tough guys, some of the bad guys?’ And when I tell them that Chris Paul, in my 32 years in the league, was one of the biggest a**holes I ever dealt with, they say, ‘Not Rasheed Wallace … or da-da-da?’ Nope. Nothing like (Paul),” he expressed. “And they are like, ‘Oh, he seems like such a nice guy.’ And I say, ‘Yeah, he’s a great image cultivator.’”

Paul is a player who is always full of surprises. Even in his final years as a professional, he embraced a trade to Golden State, team which been one of his most fierce rivals during his long career. Today, the 39-year-old is one of the oldest NBA players in the league, and can’t help but think about his future outside of the basketball courts. 

In a recent interview with Forbes, the future Hall of Famer spilled the beans about his desire to own an NBA franchise one day, but for now he still wishes to remain an athlete for as long as he can.

During the conversation with CP3, he admitted that he’d love to be a part of his hometown club. “Charlotte is definitely home, but I’m open. Especially if there’s expansion or something like that, I’m definitely open,” the veteran revealed.

“I’ve been involved with the league for too long, from every aspect of it,” he then added. “Just knowing the game, understanding the GMs, player relations, all of the different entities, that’s definitely one of my goals. I want to own a team.”

Former NBA official Tim Donaghy wishes to reconcile with fellow ref Scott Foster after gambling disaster

Before Tim Donaghy was arrested in the summer of 2007 for his role in a famous gambling scandal that shook the NBA for good, he had developed a close bond with referee Scott Foster. Their relationship went to the extent that both of them are each other son’s godfather. 

Nevertheless, they haven’t spoken in over 15 years, ever since Donaghy was suspended. The former official hopes to some day reconcile with Foster, but he knows that this won’t be possible until the referee retires from professional basketball. 

“I’m hoping at some point when Scott steps away, we can talk. And I can apologize to him. You never know; maybe that friendship can be pieced back together. I’m not sure,” Donaghy expressed.

After the investigation that marked NBA history, Foster once reminisced on their former relationship. “That’s how we communicated in 2007,” he said. “Today, when people hear anybody called someone 134 times, it’s like, ‘Wow! That’s weird.’ Because it is weird, I didn’t have text messaging in 2007. I had a Motorola Razr, which, if you wanted to text ‘Yes’ in a text message, was 23 keystrokes or something crazy like that.”