NBA Announces Officials For The 2019 NBA Finals

NEW YORK, May 28, 2019 – The NBA today announced the list of 12 referees who will officiate the NBA Finals 2019 presented by YouTube TV. The championship series between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors tips off on Thursday, May 30 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

“This year’s Finals officials have earned the right to represent the NBA on its biggest stage,” said Byron Spruell, NBA President, League Operations. “All our Finals referees have shown excellent skills, focus and teamwork to showcase their top-ranking abilities in each playoff round thus far.”

Finals officials were selected by the NBA Referee Operations management team based on their performance throughout the first three rounds of the 2019 playoffs. Officials were evaluated after each round to determine advancement in this year’s postseason.

The 12 referees assigned to The Finals are below:

Tony Brothers (8th Finals) John Goble (3rd)
Mike Callahan (16th) David Guthrie (2nd)
James Capers (8th) Eric Lewis (1st)
Marc Davis (8th) Ed Malloy (7th)
Kane Fitzgerald (1st) Jason Phillips (6th)
Scott Foster (12th) Zach Zarba (6th)

 

Three of the 12 have officiated at least 10 Finals games, highlighted by Callahan with 20 and Foster with 18. The officiating roster also includes two first-time Finals referee, Kane Fitzgerald and Eric Lewis.

NBA officials Josh Tiven and Sean Wright have been assigned as alternates for The Finals 2019.

Individual game assignments for referees are posted at NBA.com/official at approximately 9 a.m. ET each game day.