The day after the defeat against the Heat, the Lakers contacted the NBA to express their dissatisfaction with numerous misunderstood refereeing decisions which, taken together, contributed to tilting the match in favor of Miami. They therefore made a montage of all the disputed actions, and sent it to the league.
What particularly upset the “Purple-and-Gold” camp was the treatment reserved for LeBron James, yet author of a great match, but who could have benefited from a little more free throws on drives concluded at the circle… Which could have changed the outcome of a match which was played to one point . LeBron James only shot four free throws, including the 2+1 which allowed his team to come back to 108-107 two minutes from time. Previously, we actually saw him complain to the referees for contacts that were not whistled on several occasions.
LeBron James doesn’t shoot enough free throws
“I see LeBron recovering four free throws, compared to the number of times he attacked the rim, got hit on the arm, which I could see clearly, and no foul is called after that… He doesn’t flop. I see him going to the circle with strength”, regretted his coach Darvin Ham.
The King, for example, confided that he was hit in the face at another crucial moment of the game a minute from the end, after a dunk attempt on Thomas Bryant, whom he accused of having elbowed him.
“ What they tell me does not correspond with what is happening on the ground,” he lamented. “When I went to the rim to attempt a dunk on Thomas Bryant, he clearly elbowed me, with his arm directly across my face. And I asked for an explanation. Well one of the referees told me that he was in the air, with his hands raised. Two others said they hadn’t seen it.
A trend since the start of the season
What perhaps pushed the LA franchise to take action was seeing this case recur regularly at the start of the season since this is already the third time that he has shot four free throws or less in a match. In Denver during “Opening Night”, he only got one in 29 minutes of play, an extremely rare occurrence for him. Hoping that the little bit of pressure has passed with the league and its referees, the King will continue to hang on.
” I do not know what to say. I approach the referees respectfully to tell them what is happening on certain actions, but I continue to go to the line regularly, three or four times per match. Sometimes I don’t even go, which is weird.”he added. “I just have to keep penetrating, putting pressure near the rim and see if it ends up turning around. But it’s clear that we had some difficult whistles in this match, and which didn’t go in our favor.”
| LeBron James | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2003-04 | KEY | 79 | 40 | 41.7 | 29.0 | 75.4 | 1.3 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 0.7 | 20.9 |
| 2004-05 | KEY | 80 | 42 | 47.2 | 35.1 | 75.0 | 1.4 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 27.2 |
| 2005-06 | KEY | 79 | 43 | 48.0 | 33.5 | 73.8 | 1.0 | 6.1 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 31.4 |
| 2006-07 | KEY | 78 | 41 | 47.6 | 31.9 | 69.8 | 1.1 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.0 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 27.3 |
| 2007-08 | KEY | 75 | 40 | 48.4 | 31.5 | 71.2 | 1.8 | 6.1 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 30.0 |
| 2008-09 ★ | KEY | 81 | 38 | 48.9 | 34.4 | 78.0 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 28.4 |
| 2009-10 ★ | KEY | 76 | 39 | 50.3 | 33.3 | 76.7 | 0.9 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 29.7 |
| 2010-11 | MIA | 79 | 39 | 51.1 | 33.0 | 75.9 | 1.0 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 0.6 | 26.7 |
| 2011-12 ★ | MIA | 62 | 38 | 53.1 | 36.2 | 77.1 | 1.5 | 6.4 | 7.9 | 6.2 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 27.2 |
| 2012-13 ★ | MIA | 76 | 38 | 56.5 | 40.6 | 75.3 | 1.3 | 6.8 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 26.8 |
| 2013-14 | MIA | 77 | 38 | 56.7 | 37.9 | 75.0 | 1.1 | 5.9 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 27.1 |
| 2014-15 | KEY | 69 | 36 | 48.8 | 35.4 | 71.0 | 0.7 | 5.3 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 25.3 |
| 2015-16 | KEY | 76 | 36 | 52.0 | 30.9 | 73.1 | 1.5 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 6.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 25.3 |
| 2016-17 | KEY | 74 | 38 | 54.8 | 36.3 | 67.4 | 1.3 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 4.1 | 0.6 | 26.4 |
| 2017-18 | KEY | 82 | 37 | 54.2 | 36.7 | 73.1 | 1.2 | 7.5 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 4.2 | 0.9 | 27.5 |
| 2018-19 | LAL | 55 | 35 | 51.0 | 33.9 | 66.5 | 1.0 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 0.6 | 27.4 |
| 2019-20 | LAL | 67 | 35 | 49.3 | 34.8 | 69.3 | 1.0 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 10.2 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 3.9 | 0.5 | 25.3 |
| 2020-21 | LAL | 45 | 33 | 51.3 | 36.5 | 69.8 | 0.6 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 25.0 |
| 2021-22 | LAL | 56 | 37 | 52.4 | 35.9 | 75.6 | 1.1 | 7.1 | 8.2 | 6.2 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 30.3 |
| 2022-23 | LAL | 55 | 36 | 50.0 | 32.1 | 76.8 | 1.2 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 28.9 |
| 2023-24 | LAL | 7 | 36 | 56.1 | 32.5 | 65.0 | 0.4 | 8.0 | 8.4 | 5.9 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 1.1 | 25.3 |
| Total | 1427 | 38 | 50.5 | 34.5 | 73.5 | 1.2 | 6.3 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 27.2 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
