Star guard Austin Reaves was livid with referee John Goble during a jump-ball sequence late in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 125-107 Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.
The incident occurred at the 6:06 mark of the fourth quarter when Reaves was jockeying for position with Thunder guard Cason Wallace during a jump ball. Referee Goble was caught on camera yelling at Reaves, which irked the Lakers guard.
Reaves subsequently cussed out the referee. NSFW Warning:
“That’s some bulls**t for you to talk to me like that. P***y,” Reaves told referee Goble, via The Athletic’s Joel Lorenzi.
Austin Reaves Lashes Out at Referee
Reaves wasn’t quite done expressing his outrage with the officials. After the game, he confronted the entire NBA referee crew and shared his two cents.
Reaves explained exactly what transpired that led him to lose his temper.
“When we were doing the whole tip ball when they were switching spots, I wanted to get on the other side because they had a guy on the other side that was just trying to keep an advantage,” Reaves explained, via Cal Post’s Khobi Price.
“And he turned around and just yelled in my face. I just thought it was disrespectful. The whole time that was going on over there, I don’t think he said much to them. I know Ben [Taylor], I think, stepped in and said something.
“But at the end of the day, we’re grown men. And I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that. I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would have got a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a tech is because he knew he was in the wrong. I just felt disrespected.”
Austin Reaves, Lakers on the Brink
After scoring just eight points in the Game 1 loss, Reaves had a nice bounce-back game on Thursday, as he finished with 31 points and six assists on 62.5% shooting. However, his efforts weren’t enough against the reigning NBA champions.
Hall of Famer Steve Nash sympathized with Reaves’ situation after the game.
“I think this Austin Reaves situation, it’s going to be difficult for him,” Nash said on the “NBA on Prime” postgame show.
“He’s playing [against] the best defense in the league. He’s been out 4-5 weeks. Even if he goes 5/5, they still lose. They’re 15 point dogs every-night. The Lakers I thought they played well but they’re just not as good as OKC.”
The Lakers are just two losses away from elimination. Lakers vs. Thunder Game 3 tips off at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The series shifts back to Los Angeles after the Thunder retained home court advantage with a 2-0 series lead.
What Austin Reaves told Referee After Lakers Loss [NSFW Warning]