LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers faced off against the Dallas Mavericks last Thursday. The game involved two overtimes and a close 115-119 loss for the Lakers, behind some controversial officiating by the referees late in the game. Something similar happened in the game against the Philadelphia 76ers where the referee missed an obvious foul call.
NBA refs have received a lot of flak for their officiating as of late, and this game seemed to have pushed the whole issue to a tipping point. We say this because it’s not every day that you get a public reaction on the refereeing by The King, LeBron James himself. Last night, LeBron expressed his frustration with the refs on Twitter in a reply to a thread talking about the same.
And all year they keep telling me to my face on the court, “I didn’t see it” or “It wasn’t a foul”. It’s not making sense to me seriously! Frustrating as hell man! Anyways keep going Squad! 💜💛👑 https://t.co/tsrlXtJjuO
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 16, 2023
“Frustrating as hell man!”, LeBron wrote as the Lakers lost a game that was right there for the taking till the end.
LeBron James led-Los Angeles Lakers subject to horrible calls from the referee in back-to-back games
The Lakers were the recipients of two controversial calls late in the loss against the Mavs. First, towards the end of regulation, the scores were tied at 101 a piece. With 3 seconds left on the clock, Troy Brown Jr. attempted a three-pointer and was hit on the hand by Tim Hardaway Jr. with no foul called. As a result, he missed the shot and the game saw overtime.
Next, at the end of the first overtime, the scores were again tied at 108 as the Lakers held the ball for the last possession of the game. This time, LeBron decided to take matters into his own hands, as he drove baseline and went for an up-and-under layup, only to be blocked by center Christian Wood. On replay, it was again evident that Wood had made contact with LeBron’s arm as he attempted the layup, which calls for a foul.
The Lakers could never get ahead after that as Luka and the Mavs edged away in the second overtime to give Dallas the win. Some fans were quick to lament LeBron’s play in the loss, but we all know what could have happened if the officiating were better.
This was not the first case of inconsistent refereeing against the Lakers this season, as the refs also missed an obvious foul on Russell Westbrook late in the game against the Philadelphia 76ers, which cost the Lakers the game. And while LeBron may have been silent in the game against Dallas, he did not mince words after the close loss against 76ers.
“And all year they keep telling me to my face on the court,” James said in reply to a fan’s tweet on the same. “‘I didn’t see it’ or ‘It wasn’t a foul’. It’s not making sense to me seriously! Frustrating as hell man! Anyways keep going Squad!”
With the Lakers hanging in the balance with a 20-24 record this season, sitting on the 13th spot in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, every game for them is important. Also keeping in mind that they have an aging LeBron and Westbrook, who are looking to win now and win it all. So it’s natural for them and the fans to express dissatisfaction against the refereeing which cost them crucial games like these.