The NBPA has made public the findings of its 2025-26 referee-player survey. This survey serves as the official player recommendation for referee assignments for the 2026 playoffs and NBA Finals.
The survey polled 411 players across all 30 teams. The players rated 73 NBA officials on a scale of 1 to 5.
The officials were then grouped into three tiers based on the rating scale:
- Tier 1: “Elite & Top Performers”
- Tier 2: “Solid Performers”
- Tier 3: “Need Improvement”
The survey is intended to inform the NBA on which officials the NBPA prefers for playoff games. The NBPA advocates that only Tier 1 officials be assigned to NBA Finals games.
Top Ranked Referees
Zach Zarba was ranked the No. 1 official. He was ranked by players in the top 12 by every team in the league.
Tony Brothers is also among the 26 referees in Tier 1. Brothers recently had a spat with Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch.
Kevin Cutler joins Zarba and Brothers in Tier 1.
Other Referee Rankings
Scott Foster was noted as one of the “league’s most polarizing officials” and was placed in Tier 2 for solid performers. Ashley Moyer-Gleich and Sha’Rae Mitchell were highlighted for positive feedback on their improvement and landed in the second tier with Foster.
No female referee made it into the first tier, according to player feedback.
John Goble was placed in Tier 3 for “Need Improvement”. Goble was the crew chief for a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals where LeBron James berated him.
After that game, Austin Reaves and other Lakers players had a spirited conversation with Goble before leaving the floor. Reaves said the conversation stemmed from an earlier interaction where Goble screamed directly in his face before a jump ball.
According to Grant Williams, the best officials are the great communicators, the ones who understand when they’ve made a mistake.