The Los Angeles Lakers continued their winning ways on Wednesday night, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis putting on a superstar clinic to seal a 125-120 win over the Washington Wizards. As a result of this win, the Lakers went 5-1 in their road trip, which was crucial as it keeps their hopes of making the playoffs outright alive.
However, even though their opponent on Wednesday was a bad Wizards team, there were a few moments that proved to be frustrating for James and company. One such moment came at the stroke of halftime, when James drove to the rim and made an acrobatic layup despite getting hit on the head by former teammate Kyle Kuzma
Baseline official Intae Hwang was the one who bore the brunt of LeBron James' frustration, with the Lakers star imploring the referee to “call the f**king foul” while calling him a “b***h a** n***a”. The leaked audio of the Lakers star's anger quickly went viral, as fans enjoyed witnessing James be at the end of his rope when it comes to the officiating.
“Call the f*cking foul, b*tch a** n****”
LeBron is sick of the refs 😭
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 4, 2024
Given how fickle referees can be, it was amazing that LeBron James didn't get whistled for a technical foul after directing an expletive towards an official. Is it preferential treatment? There's no definitive way to say. But whatever the case may be, the only thing that's clear is that the Lakers star wants to be rewarded for his aggression, and for the most part, the Lakers were on Wednesday night.
LeBron James, the Lakers, and free throws, a tale as old as time
Some fans would find it rich that LeBron James, of all people, would have the gall to complain about officiating, even calling an official some words that, under no context, anyone would wanna hear directed towards them. The Lakers are the NBA's king when it comes to free throws after all — many teams have experienced being on the wrong end of a free-throw disparity against them, and the Wizards, on Wednesday night, were no different.
The Lakers shot 16 more free throws than the Wizards did (29 vs. 13), with Anthony Davis shooting more free throws (15) than the entire Wizards roster did on the night. Sure, a disparity in free throw attempts doesn't necessarily imply biased officiating. The Lakers make it a point, night-in, night-out, to get the ball to the paint (mostly via post-ups and pick-and-rolls, explaining their low number of drives); getting the ball to the paint makes it easier to draw shooting fouls.
But no one should pretend that the Lakers are getting the short end of the officiating stick. LeBron James may have been fouled on the play he complained about, as there was clear contact on his head from Kyle Kuzma, but it's not like he's getting hard done night-in, night-out by some shoddy officiating.
Six-seed dreams stay alive
The Lakers haven't been particularly good on the road this season; before entering their recently-concluded road trip, they were 12-20 away from home. Thus, it was a big deal that they went 5-1 in their latest trip away from Crypto.com Arena, which included a monster win over the Milwaukee Bucks sans LeBron James.
At the moment, they remain 1.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns for the sixth spot in the West. Their fate is in their hands, however. If they take care of business against the New Orleans Pelicans on April 14 (as well as continue to rack up wins against a much more difficult schedule), then they might be in a good spot to make the playoffs outright.
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