Dave McMenamin
ESPN Staff Writer
3 Minute Read
The Los Angeles Lakers reached out to the NBA league office on Tuesday to address what they perceive as a series of overlooked foul calls in their narrow 108-107 defeat to the Miami Heat on Monday, sources informed ESPN.
According to sources, the Lakers are particularly concerned with the officiating of LeBron James. The team presented multiple video clips displaying what they believe to be blatant illegal contact by Heat defenders against James that went unnoticed by the referees.
In the game against Miami, James only attempted four free throws, reducing his season average to 5.7 attempts per game. This would tie his single-season career-low if it continues. Data from Second Spectrum indicates that James has only drawn a foul on 6% of his drives this season, which is the eighth-lowest rate among the 34 players with 70 or more drives so far in the 2023-24 season.
Following Monday’s game, James expressed disappointment with the explanation given by the officiating crew for the non-calls.
One of the incidents James referred to was Heat center Thomas Bryant making contact with his face during a failed dunk attempt with 1:01 left in the third quarter – a clip that the Lakers provided to the NBA, as per sources.
“What they’re telling me is not consistent with what’s actually happening on the floor,” James stated. “When I went for the dunk attempt against Thomas Bryant, he clearly elbowed — like, arm straight across my face. And I asked him for the explanation — well, one of the refs said that he was straight up, hands straight in the air. Two of the refs said they were blocked and they didn’t see it.”
Lakers coach Darvin Ham was handed his first technical foul of the season, and just the third of his career, with 39 seconds left in the third quarter for disputing the non-call against James.
“I see Bron shooting four free throws,” Ham said after the game, “and the amount of times he attacked the rim, the amount of times he was slapped on the arm, which I could see plain as day, for that not to be called, man … he’s not flopping. I’m watching him go to the hole strong.”
The Lakers also highlighted a sequence in the middle of the second quarter where it appeared that Heat guard Duncan Robinson pushed James in the back while the 19-time All-Star was transitioning with the ball, yet no foul was called, as per sources.
“I mean, I don’t know what to [say],” an exasperated James said after the loss dropped Los Angeles to 3-4 this season. “I’m going over to them respectfully and telling them what’s going on in the plays and I consistently go to the line three or four times a game. Sometimes not even at all, which is weird.
“So just got to keep driving, keep putting pressure on the rim and see if it turns. But we had some tough break calls tonight for sure, and not in our favor tonight.”
