Patrick Beverley Talks LeBron James' Viral Reaction to No-Call in Lakers vs. Celtics
One day later, and the Los Angeles Lakers still can't believe a foul wasn't called against the Boston Celtics on a LeBron James drive to the basket as time expired.
The game ultimately went to overtime instead, and the Celtics won 125-121.
On Sunday, Lakers guard Patrick Beverley said on his podcast (8:00 mark) that he's never seen James react to a non-call like he did on Saturday night:
"I told him in the locker room, 'I've been around you 13, 14 years, bro. Like, I ain't never seen you react like that.' He was like, 'Pat, I ain't even gonna lie, like, I almost lost my s--t..' In all due respect, he should've, though. He should've done more, you know what I'm saying? I mean, that hurts, that hurts. I mean that was the vibe in the locker room, vibe on the plane. Like, damn, man, that game hurt. Because we won that game, we won. We got the best player in the planet at the free-throw line, with zero point, I don't know, seven seconds left, shooting two free throws. Like come on."
The officials conceded after the game that they missed the call.
"There was contact," crew chief Eric Lewis said in the pool report. "At the time, during the game, we did not see a foul. The crew missed the play."
Beverley said on his podcast that missed calls going against the Lakers has become a pattern, at least in his eyes.
"We were cheated," he said. "We were cheated. ... Don't know. Don't know. It's like the fourth game, though. Bamboozled, hoodwinked. All of it."
That was a common refrain from the Lakers after the game.
"I watch basketball every single day," James told reporters about the lack of calls he feels he and his teammates are getting. "I watch games every single day. And I don't see it happening to nobody else. It's just weird."
The 34-year-old Beverley also earned himself a technical foul between the end of regulation and overtime in one of the most unique ways possible, bringing a photographer's camera over to a referee to show an image of the play in question.
"I just wanted to see the still," Beverley said. "I didn't want to see the iPad, you know watching plays that refs don't see, I just wanted the still shot. See that still. Boom. Arm. Foul. That's it."
Beverley added that ref at him and said, "'C'mon, Pat, why are you doing this? I have to give you a [technical foul].' So what?"
The loss dropped the Lakers to 23-27 on the year, and the frustration among both the coaches and players was palpable.
"Like I've told you guys, we don't have room for error," James said. "And it's one of the best games we've played all year, and for it to fall on somebody else's—to fall on somebody else's judgement or non-judgement is ridiculous. It's ridiculous."
