The Warriors can’t stop getting ejected from games, but Wednesday night felt different.
Chris Paul, the Uber-competitive but clear-headed point guard, picked up two consecutive technical fouls in the waning seconds of the first half. Paul, who left with six points and six assists, was ejected for arguing a blocking call that went against him.
The official that tossed Paul was Scott Foster, his longtime nemesis.
Foster has given Paul multiple technical fouls in his career, and Paul has publicly chastised the official. At one point, Paul had lost 13 straight playoff games officiated by Foster. He has won just three of 20 postseason games with Foster involved.
After a 2018 game in which Foster gave Paul a technical, the 12-time All-Star derided Foster by name at the postgame podium.
“Yeah, Scott Foster at his finest,” Paul said that night. “You know what I mean? He just never fails. Some of them, you can [communicate] with. You’ve just gotta figure out who you can and you can’t. I got a tech tonight. I’m over there with [referee Courtney Kirkland] saying, ‘That’s Scott, that’s Scott,’ and I got a tech. That’s history there. He the man. That’s who they pay to see.”
Wednesday night, Foster whistled Paul for a quick technical foul after he briefly argued a call. That set off Paul, who continued to bark at Foster and point at him. Once Foster threw him out of the game, Paul stomped toward Foster and had more words.
During the ESPN halftime show shortly after the ejection, analyst Kendrick Perkins mused “When is Scott Foster going to be held accountable?” Co-analyst Malika Andrews noted that it was the first time Foster ejected Paul during their well-documented beef.
Foster, who is in his 29th season as an NBA referee, also gave Warriors head coach Steve Kerr a technical foul in the brouhaha.