Adam Silver sent a stern PSA to Chris Paul and NBA official Scott Foster on Wednesday, but the veteran point guard claims he has yet to hear directly from the commissioner.
After the Warriors’ 110-106 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night at Chase Center, the Warriors guard said he hasn’t heard from the commissioner or the league recently regarding the long-time feud between him and Foster.
“Nah, ain’t nobody called me since all that happened,” Paul said. “The league, usually sometimes they’ll call or interview you, but nobody texted, called or nothing since it happened.”
The infamous rivalry between the 19-year NBA veteran and well-respected referee heated up a few notches last month when Foster ejected Paul during the Warriors’ 123-115 loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Paul later referred to it as “personal” between the two, and Silver felt the need to publicly weigh in a few weeks later.
“You have there — two veterans who are the best at what they do,” Silver said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “Scott is one of the most respected NBA officials, one of the highest-rated NBA officials, which is why he referees in our Finals games. Of course, Chris [Paul] ‘s track record speaks for itself.
“The way you handle that, at least the way we’ve tried to handle that, is talk to both of them and say, ‘The expectation is that you’re going to be professional.’ And deal privately with the two of them and say guys, ‘Whatever the bad blood is between you two, you don’t have to be friends, but you got to both go out and do your jobs.’ So that’s my expectation moving forward.”
But Paul said there hasn’t been any communication between himself, Foster and the commissioner since the Nov. 22 incident.
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to Adam. [President of league operations] Bryon [Spruell]. Nobody,” Paul said. “I talked to Bryon but I had to call him. He didn’t call me. I don’t know, it’s weird.”
While there was some confusion as to whether Silver meant he had met with Paul recently, Paul did state that there have been meetings in the past “some years ago” with his dad. The 38-year-old said he and the commissioner talk “pretty often” so he figures they’ll talk at some point.
As far as whether he expects anything to change with Foster, with the league involved or not, Paul isn’t so optimistic.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Ain’t nothing ever changed as far as that.”
Although there might have been some confusion regarding Silver’s comments, one thing is for certain: Paul will be patiently waiting for that call from the commissioner.
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