LeBron James faces controversial decision during blow-out NBA playoffs loss to Thunder

LeBron James endured a frustrating and controversial evening in the Los Angeles Lakers’ blow-out NBA playoffs loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The James-led Lakers have now fallen 3-0 down in the Western Conference semi-finals series, suffering a 108-131 blow-out loss in tonight’s NBA playoffs clash.

James put up 19 points, shooting at 37%, alongside six rebounds and eight assists, before being withdrawn in the game’s concluding minutes.

Early in the first quarter, with the Lakers trailing 12-15, the 41-year-old appeared shocked at yet another controversial call in the series.

James was fouled by a jumping Lu Dort as the Lakers man attempted a three, with his shooting motion being disrupted then restarted, however, a shooting foul was not called.

The pump fake, which appeared to fool Dort, resulted in a missed shot attempt, but the Thunder man’s foul was adjudicated to have occurred prior to James’ shooting motion.

The Lakers superstar stared at the replay incredulously, as yet another controversial call in the highly-discussed series was made.

LeBron James whistle woes continue

Favourable calls for the Thunder — the 2025 Championship winners — have long been discussed by NBA fans, perhaps never more intensely than during this year’s Western Conference semi-final series.

LeBron James’ whistle woes were referenced by Lakers coach JJ Redick after last week’s also controversial Game 2 in the series, which resulted in a 127-107 win for the Thunder.

Redick, who spent much of Game 2 visibly frustrated and even picked up a technical foul himself after an outburst at referee Ben Taylor, ripped into the officiating crew during a post-game press conference.

The Lakers coach invoked the lack of calls made in favour of LeBron James, describing this pattern as “the worst whistle of any star player” that Redick had seen.

“I’ve been with him for two years now. The smaller guys, because they can be theatrical, they typically draw more fouls than the bigger players that are built like LeBron… he got clobbered again tonight,” said the 41-year-old after Game 2.

While Redick acknowledged that LeBron’s whistle woes weren’t limited to this series and the Thunder specifically, he added: “You’ve got to be able to just call them if they foul, and they do foul.”

The Lakers endured an almost certain season-ending loss to the Thunder this evening, with no team in NBA history ever returning from a 3-0 series deficit.

While the lack of a call in James’ favour during the controversial first quarter decision did not end up affecting the score-line, with the final result being a blow-out win for the Thunder as opposed to a narrow victory, it incensed NBA fans enough to question the integrity of the officiating during games involving the reigning NBA champions.

One fan replying to video replays of the controversial James call on Reddit wrote: “What is actually happening? Are we going to ever really find out?”

Another added: “It’s very, very obvious that something is occurring behind the scenes. It’s impossible to deny that… [the] Thunder are getting a whistle on both offense and defence that no other team is coming close to getting.”

The James-led Lakers return to playoffs action in Game 4 on Tuesday, looking to avoid a dreaded sweep in the Western Conference semi-final series and stage an unprecedented comeback.