James Capers, Josh Tiven and Sean Wright joined a very small club on Sunday.
Capers, Tiven and Wright were announced by the NBA as the officiating crew for Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. It's the first Game 7 of a finals for all three, who are now the 22nd, 23rd and 24th referees in NBA history to land such an assignment.
"Being selected to work the NBA Finals is the top honor as an NBA official," Byron Spruell, the NBA's president of league operations, said earlier this month when the 12-person list of finals referees was revealed.
And Game 7, one would think, is the top of the top honors.
Scott Foster, a two-time Game 7 finals referee and generally considered one of the best in the game, was not picked for the crew. Had he been, he would have become the seventh referee picked to work at least three Game 7s in the title series. The referees in NBA history who have worked that many are Mendy Rudolph six, Earl Strom five, Sid Borgia four, Dan Crawford three, Joe Crawford three and Richie Powers three.
