The NBA Goes Full WWE And Assigns Scott Foster To The Most Important Game Of The Suns Season

Christian Petersen. Getty Images.

The Phoenix Suns have to be careful. In the history of the NBA Playoffs, teams that fall behind in their series 0-2 are 32-410. If you look at just the First Round, teams that are 0-2 are just 12-180. That's good for a 6.3% winning percentage.

The Phoenix Suns are 0-1 after dropping Game 1 to Kawhi and Russell Westbrook. You could make the case that tonight is about as close to a must win as you can get through 2 games of a playoff series. Given the title expectations that the Suns have, tonight is massive.

So what does the NBA do? They go full WWE

I mean you cannot make this shit up. By now we all know the deal with Chris Paul and Scott Foster

Is that all just a coincidence? I'm sure some people aka the league will say yes. Everyone else with a brain knows that Scott Foster hates Chris Paul with a passion and I'm sure pleasures himself to the idea of being able to put CP3 in an 0-2 hole. A game here or there is a coincidence, but 14 straight? That's not an accident no matter how the league tries to spin it.

It goes without saying what a problem it is that this is even a topic in the first place. It's never a good sign when a ref is as famous as the players and when it comes to Scott Foster, there's a reason he has the reputation he does. 

If I could put on my conspiracy hat for a second, who would you say is one of the true contenders in the West? Probably the Suns right? Well, is it at all possible that with the Lakers looking better and in a good position in their series, the league is scanning the landscape and is looking for ways to make that path a little easier? Especially with SAC taking a 2-0 lead over GS. If the Suns don't make it out of the first round and the Lakers continue to roll, that means we could have a WCF where they are going up against the Nuggets or Clippers. Just something to think about is all.

Guess who worked the Lakers Game 1 by the way? Oh, that's right, Scott Foster. Interesting!

On some level, I respect the NBA for clearly not giving a shit about the optics and instead leaning into the conspiracy/issue that is CP3 vs Scott Foster. I get that at some point we're going to see him work a Suns game based on how they rotate officials, but I can't help but laugh that the first one we get is in a game that the Suns pretty much have to win. 

The thing you have to remember with guys like Foster and Tony Brothers is that it's not just about the calls that they make. It's the no calls that are truly the root of their evil. Their inconsistency in terms of what they let go and what they call is where a lot of the frustration starts. Players react to that, and that only makes things worse. Then you get the iffy foul call. It'll be interesting to see how both sides are officiated tonight but do not be surprised if we see Paul be aggressive and go into contact only for it to be a no call and then he immediately loses his shit. I can already see it.

Somewhere, you just know David Stern is smiling down. This is a move right out of his playbook. Also, if you don't think we're seeing one of Scott Foster/Tony Brothers for Game 3 in GS, you are out of your goddamn mind. The league can't have that being a sweep, so they know what to do.