Officiating is a big topic of conversation after the Los Angeles Lakers Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Head coach JJ Redick was one of several people to complain about the lack of calls on Oklahoma City’s defense, especially against superstar LeBron James.
James has been historically disrespected by officials. His size, strength and speed have worked against him when it comes to calls, as contact doesn’t typically affect him the way it affects other players, leading refs to let more things slide when defending him. But it reached a boiling point in Game 2, leading to significant frustration from Redick.
“He gets clobbered on that one with Jaylin Williams coming over to block the shot when he spun baseline on Dort, that was in that stretch as well,” Redick said. “LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen. I’ve been with him two years now.
“Again, the smaller guys, because they can be theatrical, they typically draw more fouls and the bigger players that are built like LeBron, it’s hard for them. He gets clobbered again tonight a bunch, and that’s not like a new thing. That’s not specific to this crew or this series. But he gets fouled a lot, and it [doesn’t get called]. He gets hit on the head more than any player I’ve ever seen on drives and it rarely gets called.”
James had a short response when asked about this phenomenon.
“I don’t know,” he said.
This is not a new thing for any Lakers fans who have watched James over the last eight seasons. However, Lakers fans typically have their complaints met with disbelief when it comes to officiating, as L.A. has historically received beneficial whistles from refs.
James, though, has been the exception during his time in L.A., as he continues to get hammered by opposing defenses while getting little respect from officials. James has shot five free throws through two games against the Thunder after averaging 5.3 attempts per game during the regular season and 7.4 attempts per game for his career.
Hopefully, some of this can be corrected for a pivotal Game 3 in L.A.
LeBron James discusses where Lakers can be better
James spent most of the aftermath of Game 2 figuring out ways the Lakers can improve as the series shifts to L.A. His main focuses were on second-chance points and playing a complete 48 minutes, while he wasn’t as concerned about turnovers as Redick and others have been.
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