NBA officials are often criticized, rarely celebrated, and are typically the best at their jobs when nobody knows their name.
Game 7 of the NBA playoffs announces its officials at 9 a.m. ET on gameday, with the fate of the Thunder and Spurs’ seasons in their hands.
At this time, it’s not known who the officials are, but throughout the first six games, the officials have certainly had a hand in the results of a very tight series.
Here’s what we know about the officials for Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.
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Spurs-Thunder Game 7 referees
The referees for each game of the NBA and WNBA season are announced at 9 a.m. ET on the day of the game.
The assignments can be found here.
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Spurs-Thunder series referees
Each of the six games so far have featured different crews, including four separate Crew Chiefs. This means that 16 total officials have had a hand in the Western Conference Final, not including the alternates. The only repeat officials are Zach Zerba and Tony Brothers, who each served as the Crew Chief twice.
Fouls have been a major storyline of the season and postseason for the Thunder especially. They are known as a team who excels at the free throw line and makes a major effort to draw fouls. Ironically, the Thunder has led in fouls during three separate games in this series.
Through the first six games of the series, the team with more fouls in each game has yet to win, going 0-5. The one exception is Game 2, where the two teams tied at 21 fouls exactly.
Game 1
Zach Zerba served as the Crew Chief for this contest, with John Goble as the referee and Mitchell Erwin as the umpire
The Thunder received the brunt of the fouls in Game 1, outnumbering the Spurs 26-19 in the fouls department. This was also an overtime game, inflating those numbers with an extra five minutes of play.
Game 2
Tony Brothers began his Crew Chief duties in Game 2, his first of two games in the series so far. Josh Tiven was the referee in this one and Karl Lane was the umpire.
These Western Conference foes tied for fouls in Game 2, with each side claiming 21.
Game 3
Marc Davis was the Crew Chief for Game 3. Courtney Kirkland was the referee with Justin Van Duyne as the umpire.
This was the first game of the series where the Spurs were called for more fouls than the Thunder, leading 28-25.
Game 4
Scott Foster was the Crew Chief for Game 4, with Curtis Blair and Nick Buchert joining him on the team of officials.
The Thunder were back on top in terms of fouls, getting the brunt of the calls against them. By the final buzzer, the Thunder had 25 personal fouls and the Spurs had 20.
Game 5
Tony Brothers served his second game of the series as Crew Chief, this time joined by James Carpers and Sean Wright.
The Thunder returned to their foul baiting allegations in this one, with the Spurs charged for 29 personal fouls. This marks the highest total of the series so far and seven more than the Thunder’s 22 fouls in Game 5.
Game 6
Zach Zerba was the crew chief once again in this contest, but with a different team. He was joined by James Williams and Tyler Ford.
After setting a series high for fouls in Game 5, the Spurs set a series low in Game 6. They managed only 14 fouls with the Thunder docked for 21.
