The NBA Officials robbed the Los Angeles Lakers. There is no other way to put it. With 4 seconds left and the game tied, LeBron James drove to the basket, was fouled by Jayson Tatum, but no foul was called.
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LeBron James was in disbelief after the refs didn’t call this foul at the end of regulation
(via @espn) pic.twitter.com/hLavkATVg8
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 29, 2023
LeBron expressed his displeasure on the court, and has been doing the same on Twitter as well. Even the NBA Officials released a statement saying they had made a mistake.
Like everyone else, referees make mistakes. We made one at the end of last night’s game and that is gut-wrenching for us. This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be.https://t.co/WyN8QVuTOl
— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) January 29, 2023
This is the third time in the last two weeks that the referees had missed a call on the Lakers, altering game results.
Skip Bayless claims LeBron James was lowkey relieved about missed call
The entire Lakers team expressed their displeasure about the missed call. However, the world’s leading Love-Hate relationship holder with Bron, Skip Bayless, felt Bron had an ulterior motive. He claims that Bron was actually relieved that he didn’t have to shoot those free-throws.
I thought there was a little part of LeBron that was relieved he didn’t have to go shoot the free throws. But he was justifiably outraged. More @undisputed, now on FS1.
pic.twitter.com/5vzEkcF65D— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 30, 2023
He also talked about what would have happened if Bron had to go to the line.
Reaction to refs missing foul call on LeBron?
“We got robbed of the opportunity to see LeBron go up there at the free throw line to close the game. I’d give him a 70% chance of making 1 of 2.” — @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/lYV4INfruA
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) January 30, 2023
That’s a harsh call by Skip. There is no way the King would have been shy when it came to winning the game.
How did this call affect the Lakers?
The non-call hurt the Lakers a lot. If all three games would have had the calls right, the Lakers could have been as high as the 5th or 6th seed.
Even if they got the call right in the Celtics game alone, the Lakers would have been the 11th seed, right ahead of the Thunder. The West is a highly competitive conference this year and every game can be the difference between a team making or missing the playoffs.
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