Credit: Twitter
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers commenced their 2023-24 NBA regular season with a 3-4 record after losing 107-108 to the Miami Heat on Monday night. However, the four-time NBA champion and his side believed their loss against the Heat was due to several missed foul calls by the officials and submitted a highlight package of missed calls to the league office.
ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported on Tuesday that the Lakers "shared various clips showing what they believe to be clear illegal contact by Heat defenders against James that went unnoticed by the referees." The league responded by claiming there were no missed calls, which prompted LeBron James to express his discontent with the league's decision on social media.
The league claimed, "The NBA has confirmed that all calls made in the last two minutes of the previous night's Lakers/Heat game were correct, with no missed calls." The Lakers star in no time took to X and quoted the league's claim with a caption, "The game isn’t won or lost in the last 2 mins! If you know the game things happen throughout the 1st, 2nd. 3rd and first 10 mins of 4th that has MAJOR impact on outcomes."
A video has gone viral on social media, where all plays are listed when LeBron James didn't get a foul call on his opponents despite clear contact. Watch the video here:
After the loss against Miami, Lakers coach Darwin Ham told the reporters, "I see Bron shooting four free throws. And the amount of times he attacked the rim, the amount of times he was slapped on the arm, which I could see plain as day, for that not to be called, man ... he's not flopping. I'm watching him go to the hole strong."
