Getty Images LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron James is clearly still salty over a controversial missed call that came in the Los Angeles Lakers 125-121 loss to the Boston Celtics in overtime on Saturday night.
James was clearly fouled by Celtics star Jayson Tatum on his game-winning layup attempt but it was not called by the officials, sending the game to overtime. After the missed call, James collapsed to his knees on the court and put his head down, demonstrating his disdain for the situation.
Almost 24 hours later, James is still salty, posting the play on his Instagram and tagging Tatum in the post.
“Good block Jayson Tatum,” James wrote with a series of emojis.
The post from James is the latest in a series of criticism from the Lakers on the missed call, which was heard loud and clear after the game.
“It’s bulls**t. It’s unacceptable,” Anthony Davis said after the game. “I guarantee you nothing is gonna happen to the ref. We got cheated tonight. It’s a blatant foul… Refs were bad tonight.”
James was nearly at a loss for words after the loss, stressing that he doesn’t understand why he’s not getting the calls other star players do in crunch-time situations.
“You saw my reaction,” James said from his locker with a despondent look on his face, shaking his head. “Challenging. I don’t get it. I’m attacking the paint just as much as any of these other guys in this league shooting double-digit free throws a night. I don’t get it. I don’t understand.”
Refs Admit ‘Gut-Wrenching’ Mistake Leading to Lakers Loss
Like everyone else, referees make mistakes. We made one at the end of last night’s game and that is gut-wrenching for us. This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be.
What’s more painful for the Lakers when it comes to the missed call is that the officials have not admitted multiple times that the call was missed.
“There was contact. At the time, during the game, we did not see a foul. The crew missed the play,” crew chief Eric Lewis said immediately after the game in the pool report.
The official NBA referees account went into more detail on the call on their Twitter account.
“Like everyone else, referees make mistakes. We made one at the end of last night’s game and that is gut-wrenching for us,” the account tweeted on Sunday. “This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be.”
Blown Calls Have Affected Lakers Lately
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham tried to be as fair as possible after the game but was still critical of how things unfolded.
“[He] plays a strong, physical brand of basketball and just because he doesn’t flop or he doesn’t fall or he’s not screaming when he’s shooting the ball, like I see a ton of other players doing, he gets penalized for it,” Ham said. “I saw the same thing with Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. I saw the same thing when I was a player in the Shaq [O’Neal] era. Those guys that play physical and really try to focus on finishing plays, sometimes it doesn’t go in their favor. But then you see other guys whimpering on every shot or every time they get bumped … and they are the ones getting the whistles.”
The Lakers have been on the end of some tough calls lately. Russell Westbrook appeared to be fouled on a game-winning attempt against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 15, and the Last Two Minute Report admitted a missed call on James as he attempted a go-ahead bucket against the Dallas Mavericks in a double-overtime loss on January 13.
As of January 29, the Lakers are sitting at 23-27, outside of the playoff picture.