The Los Angeles Lakers suffered another frustrating loss on Monday, this time to the Miami Heat, but on this night, the culprits weren’t defensive rebounding or a slow start.
They lost Anthony Davis to a tweaked hip and D’Angelo Russell to an ejection after he was assessed two technical fouls. The departures left an already short-handed team with just six available players down the stretch.
LeBron James played an energetic 37 minutes and scored 30 points on 13-of-23 shooting. He attacked the basket early and often, but he and his team felt he wasn’t getting enough foul calls in his favor.
As a result, the Lakers reportedly contacted the NBA regarding the matter.
Via ESPN:
“The Los Angeles Lakers contacted the NBA league office Tuesday about what they view as numerous missed foul calls in Monday’s 108-107 loss to the Miami Heat, sources told ESPN,” wrote Dave McMenamin.
“The Lakers’ main point of contention is how LeBron James was officiated, according to sources. The Lakers shared various clips showing what they believe to be clear illegal contact by Heat defenders against James that went unnoticed by the referees.”
After the contest, James addressed the issue with the media, and one of the alleged non-calls he mentioned occurred late in the third quarter when he missed a dunk and got hit by Heat center Thomas Bryant.
“What they’re telling me is not consistent with what’s actually happening on the floor,” James said. “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.”
As of now, James is averaging just 5.7 free throw attempts a game to start the season, which ties a career-low he set in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.