Coming in clutch is a concept LeBron James has mastered through the years. With this in mind, the Los Angeles Lakers drew a play that LeBron commanded in their recent match-up against the Boston Celtics. He pushed for a layup, only to come in contact with Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and miss the basket. This alleged contact wasn’t deemed a foul by the officials, leaving the Lakers contingent furious. LeBron covered his head with a towel after the ‘no-call’ while the rest of the bench looked enraged. The game, tied at 105, went to overtime and the Lakers lost the encounter eventually. Chaos ensued and the Lakers nation came with all guns blazing at the referees. Days later, these powerful emotions of negativity haven’t died down.
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LeBron James and co have been vocal about the no-call incident. Their collective voice claimed that they were wronged and this was unacceptable. As these voices grew in volume and number, the NBA Referees Association tweeted that the group of officials had made an error. They wrote that this error will continue to be “gut-wrenching”. They added, “This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be.”
Despite this confession, Lakers fans were still furious. NBA officiating has been called out by fans for quite some time now. The call in question seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Laker Nation build a case to defend LeBron James and team
Meanwhile, some fans found out the account of Eric Lewis’ wife. Lewis was the referee on duty who missed the call. Fans found that Lewis’ wife was a Boston Celtics fan as per the images and tweet she had posted a while ago. With this as proof, they accused Lewis of being biased. They asked the league to take immediate action. Some were baffled by this discovery and expressed their disbelief online. Furthermore, many wrote that the credibility of the league was in question. Here are some of the reactions:
NO WAY LMFAOOO ERIC LEWIS YOU ARE FINISHED 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Onfq6uQ2nm
— Buttcrack Sports (@ButtCrackSports) January 30, 2023
This can’t be real 😟👀😂
— Justin Tyler™ (@JustinxTyler) January 30, 2023
https://twitter.com/GloriousRoyals/status/1620115201893990401?s=20&t=GE1qE51lZwDYXr4DZs8H8Q
This is bad for the credibility of the league
— Little Season Saint 🇨🇦🕊️ (@Elhebreo5) January 30, 2023
@OfficialNBARefs could you do NBA fans a favor and eliminate all bias when it comes to officiating? NBA product is already going down the drain so how abut you implement a vetting process so we don’t get atrocious officiating like we did with the Lakers/Celtics game. pic.twitter.com/FIUhYmF6IY
— Arthur Bogosian (@Arthur_Bogosian) January 30, 2023
https://twitter.com/IanScottie4/status/1620235083599986688?s=20&t=dCpuVJNg18J0PjywUppm4g
Meanwhile, some fans also pointed out that there is not enough evidence to make such a grave accusation. They also called out fans for bullying and harassing Lewis’ wife, a private citizen.
She deleted her account 💀
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) January 30, 2023
Cuz she’s getting harassed. You think that’s cool?
— 𝟏𝟎𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 (@TenDeep_) January 30, 2023
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More post-game reactions
Eric Lewis stated that there was contact but the entire officials’ team missed it. This error took a heavy toll on the team because this wasn’t the first time that things haven’t gone in their favor. With this in mind, LeBron James voiced that he doesn’t see such things happening in other games.
According to the NBA website, he said, “It?s one of the best games we played all year. For it to fall on somebody else?s judgment or non-judgment, it?s just ridiculous.”
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On the other hand, Anthony Davis also claimed that this was unacceptable. The league heads are yet to comment about the same. It will interesting to see if they take any action against the referees.