The Los Angeles Lakers just played one of the strangest games of the 2022-23 NBA season. LeBron James, en route to breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s regular season scoring record, dropped a casual 41 points against the Boston Celtics in the Garden during a nationally televised Saturday prime time game and lost 125-121 after a thriller in overtime.
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The main story behind this game has been the fact that the NBA officials, led by crew chief Eric Lewis, completely botched the way they reffed the game. Everything from phantom fouls against Dennis Schroder and Anthony Davis to perhaps one of the most egregious no-calls at the end of a game in recent league history.
With about 4 seconds left in the game and the bout tied at 105 a piece, LeBron drove into the paint and was clearly fouled by Jayson Tatum on a left-handed layup attempt. The referees didn’t call a foul on this and the game proceeded in OT.
Anthony Davis on having felt cheated by the NBA referees
Anthony Davis, who returned earlier this week after having been sidelined due to a right foot stress reaction for 5 and a half, was very vocal postgame about how he and the Lakers as a whole felt about the officiating tonight.
He claimed the team felt cheated by the refs and stated that they should get fined for making wrong calls, especially ones that decide the end of a crucial game.
The entirety on NBA Twitter imploded upon itself after this no-call was made, with every single person siding with LeBron James, claiming he rarely ever gets calls in the league when he most certainly should. Head coach, Darvin Ham, even scoffed at the idea that the best player in the world can’t get calls in the NBA.
James Worthy was furious with the officiating
Lakers legend, James Worthy, claimed that the referees should be ashamed of themselves for the job they did tonight. Going beyond just the LeBron James no-call, they also awarded the Celtics with 39 free throw attempts while the purple and gold attempted merely 20, close to half of Boston.
NBA Twitter has also pointed out that the Boston Celtics are 36-2 since 2020 when Eric Lewis refs for them, claiming that this stat makes tonight’s ordeal all the more suspect.
Everybody from Reggie Miller to Kyle Kuzma have taken to social media to express their disgust over the no-call that was witnessed across the world tonight. The Lakers, who are fighting for a play-in spot, need every single win they can muster and tonight’s game is certainly a heartbreaking loss.
