Chris Paul Takes Petty Instagram Shot at Scott Foster During Spurs-Thunder Game 4: Their Feud Is Still Going Strong
Chris Paul retired at the end of the regular season. His war with referee Scott Foster did not retire with him.
During Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Spurs and Thunder on Sunday, Paul reposted a viral fan tweet to his Instagram Story that read, “Scott Foster doesn’t know which team to favor, he’s trying to figure out which team CP3 is rooting for.” Paul added one word: “FACTS!” Plus three crying-laughing emojis.
Inside the NBA bubble, this is roughly the equivalent of a quarterback walking onto an NFL field at midnight and spray painting the rival logo on the 50. Foster has officiated Paul in the playoffs going back two decades. Paul has been on the wrong end of nearly all of it.
The Receipts
According to ESPN, Paul holds a postseason record of 3-17 in games officiated by Foster. That is not a streak. That is a generational pattern. Paul has openly told reporters that the beef with Foster is “personal” and even tied it to a comment Foster made about Paul’s son years ago.
The data is on Paul’s side. Multiple analytical pieces have shown that Foster crews historically call more fouls on Paul’s teams than league average. The “Foster game” became its own meme during Paul’s Suns and Warriors runs.
Game 4 of Spurs-Thunder was a 103-82 Spurs blowout that evened the series. Foster’s whistles were not the story of the night. Wembanyama dropping 33-8-5 was. But Paul, watching from home, could not resist twisting the knife.
Why Paul’s Shot Landed Differently This Time
This is the first postseason of Paul’s retirement. He no longer has to worry about how a referee might respond to his social media activity in the next game. He gets to be a fan, and he gets to be petty.
Paul has been on a small tear of retired-era jabs in recent weeks. He took shots at the Clippers organization after his old team got eliminated. He has been dunking on the Suns front office. The Foster post just added the most predictable name on his hit list to the rotation.
Foster’s Side of the Story Is Quiet
Foster does not respond to social media trolling. He never has. He is one of the most veteran officials in the league and has been part of dozens of conference finals games. He is not going to give Paul the satisfaction.
That is partly why the feud has lasted this long. Paul keeps swinging. Foster keeps refusing to acknowledge it. The NBA community treats it as one of the best ongoing soap operas the sport has.
The Spurs and Thunder play Game 5 in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. Foster may or may not be on the crew. Either way, Paul has shown that the keyboard is the only court he needs now. The petty era of CP3 is just getting started.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
