Lakers’ LeBron James blasts refs after blown call on game-tying shot vs. Timberwolves: ‘Stevie Wonder could see that’
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were dismayed after his game-tying 3-pointer was controversially ruled a two after replay review.
The officials working Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night did not feel like giving LeBron James an additional cause for celebration on his 39th birthday.
LeBron’s potentially game-tying 3-pointer — amid a furious last-gasp rally — was deemed a two-pointer on the floor by the officiating crew at the Target Center. Upon an extended review, the NBA replay center let the call stand, despite replays appearing to show that LeBron’s toe was a hair behind the arc.
“Sooooooooooooooo!!!!! WTF. Helluva Happy Bday gift to me. 🤦🏾♂️”
Should this have been a 3 or a 2 by LeBron James late in the Lakers loss?
(via @KingJames
/ IG) pic.twitter.com/xcs3G9sZiH— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints)
December 31, 2023
LeBron and Anthony Davis — invoking the ghost of Patrick Beverley — pointed to the replay monitor with dismay. Lead official Tony Brothers was not interested.
chaos https://t.co/VwFY6ULByr pic.twitter.com/2RNGP7kisV
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 31, 2023
holy shit. LeBron’s foot on the line. pic.twitter.com/kQRmXNYRTB
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 31, 2023
“What’s the point of having replay if even the replay gets it wrong,” said LeBron, apparently unfamiliar with the villainous ways VAR is torturing world football. “It’s obviously a 3. My foot is behind the line. You can see the space between the front of my foot and the 3-point line. … Stevie Wonder could see that, champ.”
“It’s a 3. A clear-cut 3,” agreed Davis. “Foot was behind the line.”
The Lakers stars said they confronted a different official on the floor who deflected to Secaucus.
“Somebody over there eating a ham sandwich made the call,” added LeBron.
“The view I had it looked like a clear-cut 3,” Darvin Ham said. “They replayed it. Our guys on the sideline replayed it and thought it was a good 3. But, they have people in other places looking at it very closely and, although I don’t agree with it, we have to live with it.”
In his pool report, Brothers said the evidence was not “clear and conclusive enough” to support an overturn.
The screenshot of LeBron’s foot outside the line serves no purpose because it doesn’t show when the ball left his hands. Here’s a more accurate replay for you to decide. It’s close for sure. pic.twitter.com/tX38xTvQNi
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 31, 2023
Los Angeles trailed Minnesota, 107-100, when LeBron converted a difficult floater over Jaden McDaniels with 31.0 seconds remaining, drawing a personal and technical foul. Mike Conley Jr. missed a triple, Davis grabbed the board and found LeBron, who pulled up in transition — one centimeter too late. The Lakers regained possession with 1.1 seconds left, only for LeBron to attack the paint but fail to get a shot off (he thought there was contact but understood the no-call there, too).
“It’s super frustrating in the sense of like, what the hell do we have replay for if even the replay gets it wrong,” steamed LeBron. “Who’s a part of the replay center? Like the robots in there making the Teslas? Is what’s going on?
“It’s clear, everyone could see it. So, it doesn’t make sense. And that’s a tie game, we’re fighting for our asses, playing the number one team in the West right now.”
