Curtis Blair, for the 1st time, is among the 12 referees set to work the NBA Finals

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Curtis Blair spent all day Friday checking his email. And Saturday. And Sunday. The list of referees that were selected to work the NBA Finals was about to be revealed by the league, and the waiting was brutal.

“Every two minutes, I'd check,” Blair said.

Friday, nothing. Saturday, nothing. Sunday was mostly gone and Blair was driving home from a weekend visit to his parents' home in Virginia. As he pulled into his driveway, he realized that he had missed a phone call.

The caller was Albert Sanders Jr., the executive vice president and head of referee operations for the NBA. Turns out, that call was the email that Blair had waited years to get.

Blair called Sanders back and got the news: For the first time, he'll work a game in the NBA Finals. He's the only first-time selection in this year's group of 12 referees who will officiate the title series that starts Wednesday between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks.

“Very emotional moment, very emotional moment for me, because I’ve been right there on the doorstep for so many years," Blair said. "Yeah, very emotional. This is my 18th year and one thing I had to realize going through this journey is that everybody has their own journey. Everybody has their own timetable. You become a referee, become an umpire, you get to the first round, the second round, third round. You just have to worry about yourself and your journey.”

The league released the full list of selections on Tuesday. Scott Foster was picked to work his 19th finals, the most among current referees. The other selections besides Foster and Blair: Tony Brothers (15th finals), Marc Davis (15th), James Capers (14th), Zach Zarba (13th), John Goble (10th), Josh Tiven (7th), James Williams (6th), Courtney Kirkland (5th), Sean Wright (3rd) and Tyler Ford (2nd).

The league typically reveals the crew that will work each game around 9 a.m. EDT on game day.

“Being selected to work the NBA Finals is the highest honor for an NBA official, and I congratulate them on an outstanding and well-earned achievement,” said Byron Spruell, the NBA's president for league operations. “We are grateful for their unwavering dedication to the game and pursuit of excellence in their craft.”

Blair was a second-round pick by the Houston Rockets in 1992, though never played a regular-season game in the league. He played internationally before starting his referee career and has worked more than 1,000 NBA games since 2008.

Finals referees get special white warm-up jackets, only given to those selected to work the title series. Blair already has two of those from 2021 and 2022 when he was an alternate, but the one he gets this time will have much more meaning.

“This is so funny,” Blair said. "One referee called me and he said, ‘I know you got two other white jackets, but they had an asterisk on it. So, you can throw those away. Now you got a real one.’”

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