Right or wrong, few officials in sports are as notable as the NBA's Scott Foster.
Foster, who wears No. 48, is in his 30th season as an NBA official and has called over 20 games in the NBA Finals. He'll add to his tally when he calls Game 4 of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Celtics and Mavericks.
Throughout his officiating career, Foster has made headlines with a longstanding feud with Chris Paul, his (un)familiarity with rapper Jack Harlow and, notably, a tendency that led to him earning the nickname, "The Extender."
How did Foster earn this nickname? Here's why the moniker has stuck with the veteran official.
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Scott Foster 'The Extender,' explained
Foster is called The Extender because teams tend to stave off elimination when Foster is a member of the game's officiating crew. This nickname surfaces again as Foster will officiate Game 4 with the Mavericks facing a 3-0 series deficit in the Finals.
Most recently, Foster was on the call when the Timberwolves faced a 3-0 series deficit to the Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals. Coincidence or not, Minnesota avoided a sweep with a five-point road win over Dallas.
In response to Foster's alleged role in the series being extended by a game, 11-year NBA veteran Gilbert Arenas took to X (formerly Twitter) to add fuel to the fire of The Extender's narrative.
Arenas' post was simple: Foster's headshot with text reading "series extended" at the bottom.
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) May 29, 2024
Contrary to the narrative, however, is that Foster was on the call when the Knicks eliminated the 76ers in Game 6 of the opening round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. While fans leaned into the narrative by calling for Foster to extend the series to a decisive seventh game, New York was able to get the job done with a three-point win.
With Foster lined up as one of 12 officials set to call this year's Finals, fans may pay closer attention to his assignments once one of the Celtics or Mavericks faces elimination in the series.
Scott Foster stats
Foster has refereed 1,820 games in his NBA career, according to Basketball Reference. The home team has won 60.1 percent of those games while the road team has come out on top 39.9 percent of the time.
The two teams Foster has refereed the most in his career: Dallas (145) and Boston (133).
