"LeBron has the worst whistle of any star I have seen": Lakers outraged by refereeing against OKC

The Los Angeles Lakers were very upset with the refereeing after the 125-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second game of the Western Conference semifinals. Both coach JJ Redick and Austin Reaves strongly criticized the refereeing decisions after a game that leaves the Angels on the ropes with a 2-0 series deficit.

Right after the game, Reaves approached head referee John Goble in the center of the court, while Redick vented his frustration in the press conference.

“Sarcastically, I said the other day that they are the most disruptive team without committing fouls,” Redick stated. “They have several players who foul on practically every possession. They are already difficult enough to defend without these actions not being called.”

The Lakers' coach had already shown his anger during the game. He was given a technical foul with 1:26 left in the first quarter after vehemently protesting to referee Ben Taylor for several actions he felt were not called.

Much of Redick's outrage was related to the refereeing treatment towards LeBron James. The veteran player, who averaged 5.3 free throws per game during the regular season, has only attempted five in total in the first two games of the series.

Criticisms of the referees

“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star I've seen,” Redick asserted. “I've been with him for two years and he constantly gets hit. Smaller players often draw more fouls because they exaggerate contact more, but someone with LeBron's physique has it tougher. Tonight, he received numerous blows again.”

The coach insisted that this is not just an issue in this series. “He gets hit a lot, and many times it's not called. He gets hit in the head more than any other player I've seen driving to the basket, and it's hardly ever signaled.”

James finished the game with 23 points and six assists, but displayed his frustration in several instances. One of them occurred in the first quarter when he made a layup after contact with Jaylin Williams, fell to the ground hitting his right hip without drawing a foul. Later, he was also called for an offensive foul after Alex Caruso exaggerated contact away from the ball.

Moreover, in the fourth quarter, he saw a basket with an additional free throw negated after the referees judged that Cason Wallace's foul occurred before the shot.

However, LeBron refrained from delving too much into the refereeing. “We're down 2-0,” he tersely responded when asked about the matter.

Austin Reaves, on the other hand, spoke clearly. The shooting guard, who had the best playoff game of his career with 31 points, recounted an encounter with Goble during the final quarter.

It all began after the referees changed a loose-ball foul by Jaylin Williams on Jaxson Hayes into a double foul, resulting in a jump ball instead of possession for the Lakers.

“I felt I was respectful to them all night long,” Reaves commented. “In the past, I've said much worse things. But during the jump ball, Goble turned around and yelled in my face. I found it disrespectful.”

The Lakers' player stated he kept his cool and that the referee knew he had reacted excessively.

“We are grown men. I didn't feel like he needed to yell at me like that. I told him that if I had done that first, I would have earned a technical. I think he didn't give me one because he knew he was wrong.”

Following that incident, Oklahoma City won the jump ball, and Wallace punished with a three-pointer that extended the lead to 13 points, a difference the Lakers couldn't narrow.

Despite the frustration, Redick defended his players' emotional reactions.

“Emotion is part of basketball,” he explained. “They are a very united team and hardly complain. Maybe that's why they receive that kind of refereeing, I don’t know.”

The Lakers ended the game with 26 personal fouls called against them, compared to 21 for the Thunder. Oklahoma City took 26 free throws and the Lakers, 21.

Rui Hachimura also supported his coach's stance.

“We can't control the referees,” said the Japanese power forward. “We just have to play through it. They are the defending champions and they are respected. There's nothing we can do about it.”

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, "LeBron tiene el peor silbato de cualquier estrella que haya visto": En los Lakers, escandalizados con el arbitraje ante OKC