Rick Carlisle Defends Scott Foster Amid Criticism in NBA Finals: A Look at Game 4s Controversial Calls
In the 2025 NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has expressed his displeasure with the officiating, specifically criticizing the high number of calls and non-calls made by longtime NBA referee Scott Foster during Game 4. During his news conference at Indiana’s Sunday practice session ahead of Game 5, Carlisle addressed the public criticism of the officiating that followed Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 4 win. He described the criticism as “awful” and “stupid,” and emphasized that he has known Foster for 30 years and considers him a great official who has done a great job in the playoffs. Game 4 featured a total of 53 personal fouls, two flagrant fouls, two technical fouls, and 71 free throws – all high-water marks for the series. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shot 10 of those free throws, including eight in the fourth quarter, as part of a 15-point final frame that helped Oklahoma City erase a 10-point deficit to tie the series at two games apiece. According to analysis by Yahoo Sports contributing NBA writer Tom Haberstroh, Foster called 23 of those fouls. Some fans and pundits criticized the elevated total number of calls in general and the number of times Foster blew his whistle in particular. Carlisle made clear on Sunday that he found these critiques offensive, stating that he has known Foster for 30 years and that the scrutiny being thrown out there is terrible, unfair, and unjust. When asked which specific critiques he had seen and was referring to, Carlisle declined to elaborate, saying, “I’m not getting into it. I’ve said what I’m going to say.” After Game 4, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said he didn’t see anything untoward in the uptick in whistles, referring to them as “a crap-ton of free throws.” He added that both teams shot a lot of free throws and that the game was physical on both ends of the floor for both teams. The image accompanying this article is a screenshot of a tweet from @NBAonESPN, which shows Scott Foster blowing his whistle during a game. The tweet reads: "Scott Foster with a flagrant foul call on @okcthunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Game 4 of the NBA Finals."
