LeBron James tears up NBA refereeing after another controversial Lakers loss: ‘Frustrating as hell’

The Lakers lost another close game on Sunday night, this time at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers, where arbitration was again the main storyline. In the dying seconds of Los Angeles’ 113-112 loss, Russell Westbrook tried to take Joel Embiid one-on-one, and after driving to the basket he made a shot that didn’t even make contact with the rim.

After the game, when asked about final possession, Westbrook called attention to what he considered a foul on Embiid that was missed by the officials. The Lakers guard said, “I couldn’t get my hand up to shoot because [Embiid] was grabbing him.” On Monday, the league’s latest two-minute report of the game revealed that the officials made the right no-call. In the league’s explanation, he said: “Embiid extends his arm slightly before retracting it and marginal arm contact occurs with Westbrook on the drive-thru attempt.”

Here is the part in question:

End of discussion, right? No. The story continued on Monday afternoon after LeBron James took to Twitter to criticize the recent refereeing. James responded to a tweet that drew attention to the end of the Lakers’ last two games, in which two no-calls ended up being deciding factors in every game.

“And all year, they keep saying to my face on the pitch: ‘I didn’t see it’ or ‘It wasn’t a fault'” James wrote on Twitter. “That doesn’t make sense to me, seriously! Frustrating as hell! Either way, keep Squad going!”

After the no-call at the end of the game on Sunday, many Twitter users started posting different angles from the game’s endgame, where you can see Embiid grabbing – and holding onto – Westbrook’s wrist as he walks over. towards the edge. .

There’s even a very clear image showing Embiid’s hand grabbing Westbrook’s wrist in the end game.

However, the league felt that this contact was not sufficient for a foul to be called. This is the second straight game in which refereeing is in question for the Lakers, the previous being a double overtime loss to the Mavericks friday. The last two-minute report of this match showed that the officials missed a fault committed by Christian Wood at the end of the first overtime, as James attempted what would have been a winning lay-up.

After that game, James had a fiery response, not about that possession, but about what he felt was a missed call at the end of regulation. As Troy Brown attempted a potentially game-winning 3-pointer, Tim Hardaway Jr. made contact with Brown’s hand, but officials agreed it was not a foul. James thought otherwise, saying “That’s a fucking fault.”

Given that no-calls have impacted each of the Lakers’ last two games, it’s understandable that James is frustrated with officiating. However, this is not a unique situation for the Lakers, and James is far from the first player to feel like his team is getting the small end of the stick with the refereeing. Back in November Sacramento Kings guard Kevin Huerter said that umpires officiate Kings games differently compared to all other teams in the league. Ja Morant took to social media to criticize the refereeing, say that referees have “too much power”.

Referees missing calls isn’t something that only happens to the Lakers, as some on Twitter may suggest, but it’s become a major problem in the league this season where officials have missed crucial calls, where have been much too fast to distribute techniques and ejections.

The Lakers-Mavericks game is actually the perfect example. While James and Lakers fans may be upset about the missed call at the end of the first overtime, the final two-minute report also revealed the umpires missed four incorrect calls against the Mavericks.

Inconsistent officiating happens all over the league, and while each team or player may feel like their team is getting a bad hand more than the others, what’s really going on is that some of the umpires have it all just been bad.