OKLAHOMA CITY – For NBA players, the prize is the gold trophy. For NBA referees, the prize is the white jacket.
And for Tyler Ford and Ben Taylor, the jacket has arrived. Soon, so will the moment they've worked a long time for — they're going to be blowing the whistle at the NBA Finals.
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Ford and Taylor were the two first-time selections on a roster of 12 referees that were announced Tuesday as those picked to work the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers. The series begins Thursday in Oklahoma City.
“That jacket's really sweet and it's sort of our trophy,” Ford said. “There's a special significance to the white jacket. Everybody's who's been in the finals or aspires to do the finals recognizes that. You get one when you're an alternate because you walk out there and you take a picture and you've got to be prepared, but it's a little different when you're actually one of the 12 and you'll be working on the floor.”
Both have been alternates before, so they know what the white jacket looks like and feels like. But Taylor made sure that he'll know the difference between the ones he got as an alternate and the ones he'll get now as a full-fledged finals referee.
“I literally wrote on every one of them. I wrote ALT on the tag of every one I've got so far,” Taylor said. “It's the culmination of life's work. I got into the minor leagues at 20 or 21 years old. It's all I've ever known and it's all I've ever done. It's the pinnacle. The extreme pinnacle is Game 7 crew chief, but this is a strong step in that direction.”
Scott Foster is the most veteran of the finals referees; he was picked to work the title series for the 18th time. Tony Brothers and Marc Davis were both picked for the 14th time, James Capers for the 13th time, Zach Zarba for the 12th time and John Goble for the ninth time in his career.
David Guthrie is now an eight-time selection for the finals, while Josh Tiven was picked for the sixth time, James Williams for a fifth time and Sean Wright for a second time.
“We are grateful for these 12 individuals and their dedication to serving the game at the highest levels throughout the season,” said Byron Spruell, the NBA President for League Operations. “Being selected to work the NBA Finals is the top honor as an NBA official, and I congratulate this exceptional group on a worthy achievement.”
Courtney Kirkland and Kevin Scott were picked as alternates. Foster has officiated the most NBA Finals games among this year’s referees with 25, while Davis has worked 21 and Brothers has worked 17.
NBA Finals officials were selected based on their overall performance throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. Officials were evaluated by the NBA Referee Operations management team after each round to determine advancement in this year’s postseason, the league said.
Ford and Taylor got the calls informing them they had made it from Albert Sanders Jr., the league’s head of referee operations. Neither knew when — or if — the call was coming, and knew they had no control over the decision.
“It's a lot of mental ability to be able to say, ‘OK, can I live with the work that I’ve done and be OK with whatever comes?'” Taylor said.
If previous form holds, each of the 12 will work one of the first four games in the series as part of a standard three-person crew. If the series goes past Game 4, the NBA will continue assigning as needed from the same pool for the remainder of the matchup.
The crews for each game are typically announced around 9 a.m. Eastern on game days. For Ford, it just so happens that Game 2 is on his 40th birthday Sunday — if it works out that way — and he worked the G League Finals the year he turned 30. Whichever game he works, it'll be around his 40th birthday, so there's some neat symmetry there as far as merging a work milestone with a milestone birthday.
“This is what you work for,” Ford said. “You want to be in these moments.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba