The NBA named 12 officials for the 2026 NBA Finals on June 3, locking in the crew that will work the title series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. The championship tips off Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC, and the league said individual game assignments will be posted each morning at NBA.com/official.
For Blair, the assignment marks a Finals debut after serving as an alternate in 2021 and 2022. Scott Foster, by contrast, arrives with the deepest Finals résumé in the group, having already worked 26 NBA Finals games, while Marc Davis has officiated 23 and Tony Brothers 19.
The officials were chosen by the NBA Referee Operations management team after a season-long review built on grades, rankings, play-calling accuracy and team ratings. They were also evaluated after each playoff round during the 2026 NBA Playoffs presented by Google, a process that narrowed the field before the Finals crew was set.
That is what gives the announcement its weight: this is not a ceremonial list, but the league’s judgment on who handled the season best when the games mattered most. Byron Spruell called selection to the Finals the highest honor for an NBA official and said the league was grateful for the group’s dedication and pursuit of excellence.
Blair’s climb into the Finals group, after two years as an alternate, sits alongside Foster’s long track record at the event and shows the range of experience the league wanted on the floor. Nick Buchert, JB DeRosa, Mitchell Ervin and Justin Van Duyne were assigned as alternates, leaving the only unanswered piece the nightly matchup of officials to games, which will arrive at 9 a.m. ET on each game day.
For the Knicks and Spurs, the officiating assignment is now part of the finals landscape, and the full crew is set before the first ball goes up. The question that remains is not who made the list, but which officials will be trusted with the first, and then the biggest, games of the series.
