JJ Redick: 'LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player'

The Los Angeles Lakers now trail the Oklahoma City Thunder two games to none in the Western Conference semifinals after their 125-107 loss in Game 2 on Thursday. At times, Thursday's game got physical, and it left the Lakers complaining about the officiating.

In particular, LeBron James was seen arguing with the referees multiple times in this game. During the first quarter, he appeared to get hip-checked by Jaylin Williams while making a layup, but no foul was called. Later on in the fourth quarter, he was fouled while making a mid-range shot, but the shot didn't count, as it was ruled that the foul occurred before the shot attempt. Right after the final horn, several members of the Lakers gathered together and had a discussion with the referees.

James scored 23 points but got a modest four free throw attempts, and after the game, Lakers coach JJ Redick defended the superstar by saying that James doesn't get calls that he perhaps should get in his favor.

"LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I've ever seen," Redick said. "I've been with him two years now. There's the smaller guys because they can be theatric, they typically draw more fouls, and the bigger players that are built like LeBron, it's hard for them.

"He gets clobbered, and he clobbered again tonight a bunch. That's not a new thing. That's not specific to this crew or this series."

When James was asked how the officiating affected the key runs made in this game, he simply responded, "We're down 2-0." When asked about Redick's comment about him not getting calls and why he thinks he doesn't get more calls, he gave a non-answer.