LeBron James and JJ Redick’s podcast has been a sensational watch every week since it began. The fascinating dynamic between a careful media personality like LeBron and a brutally honest analyst like Redick is fun to watch, especially in the latest episode when Redick called out LeBron for complaining about officials in their 4-1 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
LeBron James: “In the playoffs, you’re allowed to be more physical. Well, as I’ve seen in our series, it felt like a f**ing regular season game.”
JJ Redick: “Says the guy whose team had the greatest free throw disparity in the NBA in last two seasons. This f***ING guy.”
(Starts at 47:12)
This was quite a blunt call-out but one that was needed. The Lakers complaining about officiating not going their way is incredibly ironic given the statistics of their free throw numbers over the last two seasons. Before the season ended, the Lakers boasted a +1017 advantage over the last two seasons (including playoffs).
While a lot of it can be attributed to the Lakers play-style depending on generating free throws, the lack of calls they face and the fact that they’re doubling the rest of the league in differential is hard to explain away. But it’s not egregious.
Over the last 20 years in the NBA, other teams have outpointed the Lakers in terms of single-season free throw differential. This year’s Lakers had a +507 free throw advantage, which isn’t close to the most of all time. That honor belongs to the 2017-18 Charlotte Hornets with +722. Given the 36-46 record they ended the year with, it’s clear that calls don’t always equate to wins.
Michael Malone Was Furious At Referees In Round 1
There were some calls that went against the Lakers in their 4-1 series loss to the Nuggets, like some controversial calls in Game 2. But Nuggets head coach Michael Malone maintained that the Lakers are a team that’s benefitted from the referees all season long after Game 2, where the Nuggets shot 0 free throws in the second half of that game.
“I think in the 2nd half we had zero FT attempts, which is concerning when you consider we scored 30 in the paint and made a lot of field goal attempts in the paint, it’s not like we’re settling for jump shots. We are attacking, we are posting, we are playing to the rim. You’d think that would warrant a few free throws, at least two. But that wasn’t the case last night, so we got to stay the course and continue playing the game in our style and hope there’s a payoff at some point.”
There were more pain points for the Nuggets in that series, including Nikola Jokic shooting 0 free throws in their closeout Game 5 win. But the Nuggets and the 2017-18 Hornets have proven that calls will not result in wins.
James is fair to criticize the spotty refereeing in the NBA this season, especially with its inconsistency. But the Lakers have been the most consistent beneficiary of their inconsistent officiating, which is either a funny coincidence or something more direct.
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