For the first time, the National Basketball Players Association has publicly released its findings from the 2025-26 referee-player survey. According to the release, it serves as the official player recommendation for further referee assignments for the 2026 playoffs and for assignments in the 2026 NBA Finals.
The survey data came from a poll of 411 players across all 30 teams. The players rated all 73 NBA officials on a scale from 1 to 5. The officials were grouped into three tiers based on the rating scale. Tier 1 was for “Elite & Top Performers,” Tier 2 for “Solid Performers,” and those placed in Tier 3 were designated as “Need Improvement.”
The survey was meant to inform the NBA on which officials the NBPA prefers be assigned to playoff games, and to advocate that only Tier 1 officials be assigned to NBA Finals games.
“I think officiating comes down to the person. I don’t think you can reform the calls themselves. People are human, and they’re going to make mistakes,” Grant Williams, at the “State of the Game” roundtable, said. “But the best officials in the league, according to the players, are the great communicators, the ones who understand when they’ve made a mistake.”
Zach Zarba was ranked the No. 1 official as the only person ranked by players in the top 12 by every team in the league. Joining him among the 26 referees in Tier 1 are Tony Brothers, who recently got in a spat with Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, and Kevin Cutler.
Scott Foster was noted in the NBPA release as one of the “league’s most polarizing officials” and was listed in Tier 2 for solid performers. Ashley Moyer-Gleich and Sha’Rae Mitchell were highlighted for receiving positive feedback on their improvement and landed with Foster in the second tier. No female referee made it into the first tier, according to player feedback.
Tier 3 for “Need Improvement” included John Goble, who was the crew chief for Game 2 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals. In that game, LeBron James could be heard by reporters from The Athletic in attendance loudly berating and cursing at Goble.
At the end of that game, Austin Reaves and other Lakers players crowded around and had a spirited conversation with Goble before leaving the floor. Reaves later said the conversation stemmed from an earlier interaction. In the fourth quarter, Reaves fought for position on a jump ball with Thunder guard Cason Wallace. According to Reaves, Goble screamed directly in his face before the ball went up in a manner Reaves deemed “disrespectful.”
“I felt like I was respectful to all of them all night,” Reaves told reporters afterward. “I mean, there’s a million times in the past I’ve said way worse stuff. And when we were doing the whole tip-ball when they were switching spots, I wanted to get on the other side because they had a guy on the other side, was just trying to keep an advantage.”
Goble was one of 20 referees voted into Tier 3.
“As long as you’re calling a game consistently, guys are willing to adapt,” Williams said at the roundtable. “It’s about having control of the game while also respecting the players and their different personalities.”
