Scott Foster Among Refs Selected for 2026 NBA Playoffs, Natalie Sago Joins Historic Club
Veteran referee Scott Foster will be back on the court for another NBA postseason.
Per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, the NBA announced that Foster was one of the 36 officials selected to work this season's play-in tournament and first round of the playoffs. The full list includes Ray Acosta, Brent Barnaky, Curtis Blair, Tony Brothers, Nick Buchert, John Butler, James Capers, Sean Corbin, Kevin Cutler, Eric Dalen, Marc Davis, JB DeRosa, Mitchell Ervin, Tyler Ford, Brian Forte, Scott Foster, Pat Fraher, Jacyn Goble, John Goble, Jason Goldenberg, Courtney Kirkland, Marat Kogut, Karl Lane, Mark Lindsay, Tre Maddox, Ed Malloy, Andy Nagy, Gediminas Petraitis, Natalie Sago, Kevin Scott, Ben Taylor, Josh Tiven, Justin Van Duyne, James Williams, Sean Wright and Zach Zarba.
Sago is just the third woman in league history to be selected for postseason work, joining Violet Palmer and Ashley Moyer-Gleich.
Per Reynolds, the league has said that referees for the postseason are selected "based on key criteria assessed throughout the season: NBA Referee Operations grades and rankings, play-calling accuracy and team rankings." Evaluations will continue throughout the playoffs to determine who is selected for later rounds.
When Sago takes the floor for the first time this postseason, it will be just the 12th playoff game to feature a female official. Palmer worked nine playoff games from 2006 to 2012, while Moyer-Gleich worked two in 2024.
"I hope it does become normal," Sago told Reynolds. "As long as we can do the work and do it well and work hard, it's the same thing the men do on the staff. I just want us all to be NBA referees. I don't want to be known as, 'Oh, you're the fifth female hired in the NBA ever.' OK, great. I know that. But we're all the same people. We do the same job."
Sago has a long way to go to catch Foster, who has worked 262 playoff games in his career.
"When you're on a high wire with no net under you and you're depending on the person to catch you, you don't really care what gender they are," Monty McCutchen, who oversees referee development and training for the NBA, told Reynolds. "What you care about is whether they've been trained properly, and whether you can trust that they will be there for you when you need them. And that's one of the things that's really important that, in my opinion, we've gotten right."
