Why Did LeBron James Call Out Replay Center? Fans Demand Thorough Investigation, Amid 6 Year Blemish

The Los Angeles Lakers have not been able to make it past the first round of playoffs consecutively for the second year. However, out of all of the games, Game 2 was the one that LeBron and Co. lost with the closest margin and scoreline of 101-99. One of the most significant moments of this game was the foul whistle by the referee that was declared “bad” by the Replay Center. It was when Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. was called for a foul after D’Angelo Russell got swiped by the former’s arm. However, the Replay Center denied the foul after the Nuggets coach requested it. This turnover made LeBron boil down on the referees.

In a recent post from an X user, it was mentioned that Replay Center head Kane Fitzgerald is the reason why LeBron got a bad whistle. The post that mentioned D’Angelo Russell’s foul from Game 2 read, “Want to know why Lebron has a bad whistle? Kane Fitzgerald is the referee that ejected Lebron for the first time in his career in 2018. He’s also the head of the NBA replay center….“. As the tweet proceeded, the user asked the NBA community why no one was saying something about that incident, considering the circumstances. This question accumulated a lot of responses from X users.

One of the X users speculated a league conspiracy to target LeBron James

Another user felt nostalgic about LeBron James’s ejection from the court in 2018 by Kane Fitzgerald.

One user from the comment box took the post in a comic way.

Another user pulled out the Michael Jordan reference after observing LeBron’s reaction.

Another user, when he got to know Replay Center’s head, got critical about it.

LeBron’s history with the referees is not as good as it was mentioned in the post by the X user. Though he is quite a well-mannered player on the field, King James also faced foul when no one expected it and got a severe punishment from the referee. This reference can be termed as the first ejection of the Lakers superstar from the court.

Blast From the Past: LeBron James’ First Ejection From the Court!

LeBron James was first ousted from the basketball court while he was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Miami Heat. On November 29, 2017, referee Kane Fitzgerald ejected LeBron for a slight hit with the then-rookie Bam Adebayo of the Heat. The incident happened while two minutes were still left on the clock till the culmination of the third quarter. However, it was not the collision that landed James in trouble.

When Kane Fitzgerlad gave a no-call to James, he did not accept it. Nevertheless, the Cavs’ superstar threw an air punch at Kane and then whispered some vulgar words in the referee’s ear. This behavior of James on the court infuriated Fitzgerald and resulted in LeBron’s omission from the team for that game.

Though the Cavaliers won that game against the Heat without LeBron, it was certainly a moment to remember for Cavalier fans. It seems like that tradition has been continued since then, as the Lakers’ forward is still not so good with referees when it comes to those chaotic situations.