BOSTON — LeBron James sat in front of his locker, knees encased in ice, staring blankly ahead, searching for an answer to a problem that has plagued him for weeks, if not all season.
“I don’t understand,” James repeated over and over again after the Los Angeles Lakers lost 125-121 in overtime to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Saturday.
James’ frustration with the way he is being officiated this season has been simmering for a few weeks. In the seconds after regulation time ended against the Celtics, it broke out on one of the biggest stages of the regular season: a prime-time matchup between the league’s closest rivals.
With four seconds remaining and a tie at 105, James drove past Malcolm Brogdon and easily got to the edge. As James extended his left arm for a layup, Jayson Tatum turned and swiped down, slapping James’ arm and causing him to miss the try at point-blank range as time ran out.
To James’ disbelief, there was no whistle.
He immediately stomped around and gestured with his left arm to emphasize where the contact had occurred. James then bounced around in an uncharacteristic display of emotion. As his frustration got the better of him, he collapsed on the floor and struggled to contain his anger.
“You saw my reaction‘ James said matter-of-factly when asked about his reaction to the no-call.
Patrick Beverley, who is proud to have his teammates’ backs, took a nearby baseline photographer’s camera and showed the image to the referee, causing a technical foul before overtime even started and igniting a chain of memes.
In a post-game pool report, Crew Chief Eric Lewis admitted the umpiring crew missed Tatum’s contact on James’ layup attempt.
“There was contact,” Lewis said. “Back then, during the game, we didn’t see a foul. The crew missed the play.”
Anthony Davis, who also spoke to the media outside his locker a few yards from James, sounded out about the no-call and general conduct of office.
“[Tatum]fouled him,” Davis said. “He fouled him. Clearly. Clearly. They’re cops—. … It’s unacceptable. And I guarantee that nothing will happen to the referees. We got scammed tonight, honestly. It’s a blatant foul. … It’s unacceptable, to be honest. The referees were bad. You were bad tonight.”
The dressing room scene after the game was tense and desperate. The players cleared up quickly. Each conversation included questioning and criticizing final possession and why umpires can’t be severely penalized for missing a call that costs a team a game.
Beverly and Russell Westbrook declined to speak to the media after the game.
Even Lakers coach Darvin Ham, who is usually judged by his analysis of officiating, was visibly disappointed when he spoke.
“As much as you try not to put it on the board, it’s getting harder and harder,” Ham said.
The Lakers have had several recent losses where critical crunch-time decisions didn’t go in their favor, including to Dallas, Philadelphia and Sacramento.
In their double loss to the Mavericks, James was fouled by Christian Wood in a similar play at the end of first overtime, but the foul was not called.
If those calls had gone correctly in the Lakers’ favor, as well as final possession against the Celtics, the 23-27 Lakers, who are 13th in the West, would likely be 27-23 and fourth in the conference.
“I watch basketball every day,” James said. “I watch games every day. And I don’t see it happening to anyone. It’s just weird.”
The Celtics (39 free throw attempts) shot almost twice as many free throws as the Lakers (20). James attempted just six free throws, nearly half that of Tatum (12) and Jaylen Brown (11).
“The best player in the world cannot be called,” said Ham. “It is wonderful.”
James, who finished with 41 points in 15-for-30 shooting and almost forced the Lakers to victory, said he doesn’t feel as officiated as other stars.
“It’s a challenge,” James said. “I do not get it. I’m attacking the color like every one of the guys in this league shooting double digit free throws every night and I don’t get it. I do not get it.”
Ham suspected the discrepancy stemmed from James’ playing style, citing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shaquille O’Neal as players similarly difficult to direct due to their strength, power and physicality.
“He’s a guy who chooses to play right … plays a strong, physical kind of basketball, and just because he doesn’t flop or he doesn’t fail or he doesn’t yell when he shoots the ball like I see a ton of other players do.” , he will be punished for it,” Ham said. “…Those guys who are playing physically and really trying to focus on finishing the games sometimes don’t go in their favor. But then you see other guys whining at every shot or anything they poke… and they’re the ones who get the whistles.
James acknowledged his visceral reaction was due to emotions brewing throughout the season – and irritation from the calls, which seemingly led directly to losses.
“Nah, it’s building up,” James said. “It built up because you guys watched some of the games we lost this year with late game missed calls. We had the opportunity to literally win the game. I’ve had the second to myself over the last few weeks: I had the chance to win a foul against Dallas. K-Nunn recently had an opportunity to tie the game (against Sacramento) when the four-point game is called. I do not understand.”
The Lakers still had a chance to win in overtime, but the Celtics sped out by six points within the first minute as the Lakers were clearly still processing what had just happened.
The emotional transfer was ultimately too much for the group, at least in a hostile street environment against the league’s best team.
“You’re still thinking about that,” Davis said. “To be honest, you shouldn’t even be in this situation. You shouldn’t be working overtime.”
The Lakers have already communicated with the league, but with the tally in office, they’re not sure what the best course of action is going forward.
“I mean, we have different avenues where you can … I think Monty McCutchen, he’s definitely transparent and there are different mechanisms that we have access to where we can raise our concerns and they give good feedback,” said Ham. “But in hindsight, one can only hope it becomes more consistent.”
James said he will not communicate with the league.
“Nah, I won’t go into that,” James said. “Our organization decides they want to do that, it’s cool, but it’s not going to change s-.”
The Lakers are no strangers to heartbreaking losses. They’ve been one of the league’s worst teams in crunch time this season, losing agonizingly about a dozen times. That makes Saturday’s defeat so difficult to accept. They were right there. They led much of the game – and they needed that win badly.
If the Lakers had a better record, perhaps their reaction to the blown call would have been milder. But that’s the kind of loss that can hit the Lakers in April as they battle for playoff and play-in positioning.
Los Angeles was just a foul call away from potentially starting its five-game road trip with a statement win. They faced off against the best team in the NBA for the second time this season.
But instead, they’re looking for explanations as to why so many calls continue to go against them at crucial moments, and await the moment when they finally turn the corner and solidify in the postseason picture.
“Like I told you, we have no room for error,” James said. “And it’s one of the best games we’ve played all year and for it to come down to someone else’s judgment or non-judgment is ridiculous. It is ridiculous.”
(Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
