Veteran NBA referee Scott Foster did not endear himself Saturday to the New York Knicks faithful.
Foster committed one of the more curious officiating blunders in Game 4 of the Knicks’ first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks. The mistake happened as the Knicks had possession and a 41-31 lead midway through the second quarter at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga.
Knicks swingman OG Anunoby was being defended by Jalen Johnson near the sideline when the Hawks forward stepped out of bounds. Foster, whose attention was initially toward the hand-to-hand contact, suddenly called Anunoby out of bounds because both players were wearing yellow shoes.
Scott Foster thinks Jalen Johnson's yellow shoe is OG Anunoby's yellow shoe and calls out of bounds on Knicks pic.twitter.com/fWT1MMqTFt
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) April 25, 2026
Knicks fans, understandably, weren’t happy with Foster for making a judgment call on a player he clearly wasn’t sure about. You can see by where his eyes were looking that he was relying on his peripheral vision to make the call.
i cannot believe we turned the ball over because scott foster is COLOR BLIND
— rads (@rads619) April 25, 2026
Scott Foster NOOOOO
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) April 25, 2026
If you're gonna make a call like this, you better be 10000% sure
— Knicks Memes (@KnicksMemes) April 25, 2026
Scott Foster just humiliated himself pic.twitter.com/Zk2b4SEPOd
Scott Foster just cheated on national television. OG did NOT step out of bounds. Clear as day. Smh #nbaplayoffs
— Jae Millz (@JAE_MILLZ) April 25, 2026
Knicks fans didn’t have to be upset for long, as their squad held the lead all the way to the finish line in Game 4. The 114-98 New York victory knotted the series up at 2-2.
Anunoby fittingly led the Knicks in scoring with 22 points to go along with 10 rebounds. He may want to consider a less conspicuous shoe color for Game 5, though.
