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NBA Announces Officials For 2026 Finals

Victor Wembanyama during a Spurs game, used for a story on NBA Finals officials for Knicks vs Spurs
Summary

The NBA announced the 12 referees assigned to the 2026 Finals between the Knicks and Spurs, with Scott Foster leading the group in Finals experience.

The NBA has set the officiating pool for the 2026 NBA Finals, adding another layer to the Knicks-Spurs series before Game 1 tips off Wednesday night.

The league announced 12 officials for the championship round:

  • Curtis Blair
  • Tony Brothers
  • James Capers
  • Marc Davis
  • Tyler Ford
  • Scott Foster
  • John Goble
  • Courtney Kirkland
  • Josh Tiven
  • James Williams
  • Sean Wright
  • Zach Zarba

There is plenty of experience in that group. Foster is working his 19th Finals and has officiated 26 Finals games, the most among this year's referees. Davis is entering his 15th Finals, Brothers his 15th, Capers his 14th and Zarba his 13th.

Blair is the newcomer in the group, making his Finals debut after previously serving as an alternate in 2021 and 2022. Tyler Ford is also still relatively new to this stage, with this marking his second Finals assignment.

The NBA said the officials were selected by Referee Operations based on season-long grades, rankings, play-calling accuracy and team ratings, with evaluations continuing after each playoff round.

The alternate officials for the series are Nick Buchert, JB DeRosa, Mitchell Ervin and Justin Van Duyne. Individual game assignments are scheduled to be posted at NBA.com/official around 9 a.m. ET on each game day.

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