Lakers: LeBron James Blasts Referees and NBA for Missed Calls in Narrow Loss vs Heat

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - LeBron James (#23) of the Los Angeles Lakers argues with referee Mitchell Ervin (#27) during overtime against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on November 01, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo : Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James sounded off on what he perceived as unfavorable calls made by the officials, which might have impacted their close 108-107 loss to the Miami Heat on Monday, November 6 at the Kaseya Center.

The league's all-time leading scorer went on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to vent his frustration a day after the game.

James quoted a post of a report stating that the NBA has verified that all calls made in the final two minutes of the Lakers/Heat game from the previous night were accurate, with no instances of missed calls. 

"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," the 38-year-old said.

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Lakers file formal complaint 

According to ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin, the Lakers submitted a formal complaint to the NBA league office earlier on Tuesday, November 7, mainly alleging "several missed foul calls," involving the NBA's oldest active player. 

James only attempted four free throws against the Heat, dropping his season average to 5.7 free throw attempts per game.

The four-time NBA champion publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the officiating of the game. 

"When I went for the dunk attempt against Thomas Bryant, he clearly elbowed - like, arm straight across my face. And I asked [the official] for the explanation, well, one of the refs said that he was straight up, hands straight in the air. Two of the refs said they were blocked and they didn't see it," James said after the game.

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