‘LeBron has the worst whistle of any star’: Lakers rip officiating after playoff loss to Thunder

Lakers coach JJ Redick criticized the way LeBron James is officiated and guard Austin Reaves complained about treatment from the referees after Los Angeles lost 125-107 to the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.

A number of Lakers players gathered around the referees at midcourt after the game and Reaves voiced his frustration to crew chief John Goble. He felt that while players were jockeying for position during a jump ball during the game, Goble crossed the line.

“At the end of the day, we’re grown men and I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that,” Reaves said. “I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would’ve gotten a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a tech was because he knew he was in the wrong. I felt disrespected.”

Austin Reaves and the Lakers voice their frustrations to the referees after Thursday’s game.

Reaves, Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes all finished with five fouls. The Thunder took 26 free throws to 21 for the Lakers. The loss sends Los Angeles home facing a 2-0 deficit heading into Game 3 on Saturday.

Redick doesn’t think a team with the No 1 seed and the reigning MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs extra help from the officials.

“They’re hard enough to play,” Redick said. “They’re hard to play, and you’ve got to be able to just call them. They foul. They do foul.”

James, still effective at attacking the rim at age 41, has attempted just five free throws in two games in the series.

“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen. 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,” Redick said. “They get clobbered, and he got clobbered again tonight a bunch.”

On several occasions, Lakers players were incredulous after calls – or no-calls – from the crew. While the Lakers talked to the officials during and after the game, the Thunder players stayed calm. Redick believes that might have helped them.

“I think some of the reason that they’re officiated the way they are is because they don’t show emotion,” Redick said. “And that’s a credit to them. I mean, they really take the emotion out of the game. They’re super tight-knit. They don’t complain to the officials, and maybe they’re the beneficiaries of that, I don’t know.”

Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren each scored 22 points for the Thunder. Ajay Mitchell had 20 points and Jared McCain added 18 for the defending champion Thunder, who improved to 6-0 in the playoffs.

Reaves scored 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting, while James, coming off a 27-point effort in Game 1, followed that up with 23. The Lakers again were without scoring champion Luka Dončić, who is with a strained left hamstring.