NBA Players Vote Tony Brothers Best, 2nd-Worst Ref; Scott Foster Rated Worst

NBA players and referees don't always have the best relationship, but some officials stand out above the rest.

The Athletic's Sam Amick and Josh Robbins compiled the results of a survey of 108 NBA players, and longtime official Tony Brothers was voted as "best ref." He received 28.8 percent of the 66 votes that were submitted, with Zach Zarba coming in second at 18.2 percent.

"He always talks s--t to us," one player said of Brothers. "He interacts with us instead of taking everything personally. He'd be like, 'Sit your ass down, you know you fouled him.'"

However, the 29-year veteran was also listed among the worst referees as well. Scott Foster was far and away the leader with 25.4 percent of 59 votes, while 30.5 percent of the votes went to "other," but Brothers was right behind Foster, tied with Evan Scott at 8.5 percent.

"He's the worst ref to ever do it in the NBA," one player said of Brothers. "He takes everything personal. He's awful."

With 174 playoff games refereed prior to this year, Brothers will surely get closer to 200 this postseason.