Today in US time is LeBron James’ birthday and the world’s top basketball star “celebrated his birthday” in a way that even he did not expect: Losing painfully, disagreeing with the referee and going online. Society continues to express frustration.
The match, which took place at noon on December 31 (Vietnam time), saw the Los Angeles Lakers lose controversially to the Western leader Minnesota Timberwolves.
The focus revolved around the ball where LeBron James seemed to have successfully made a 3-point shot, but the referee only counted 2 points, leading to a final defeat of 106-108.
The controversial ball occurred when there were only a few seconds left in the match. Trailing 104-107, LeBron James received a quick counterattack ball from Anthony Davis and decided to throw a quick 3-pointer to equalize the score.
The ball went into the basket but LeBron’s foot seemed to have stepped on the line so the referees only counted 2 points, shortening the score to 106-107. Because this was an important situation that could determine the outcome of the match, the referee team asked to watch the video for assistance.
After a long time at the midfield screen, the whistleblowers concluded that this was just a 2-point shot by LeBron James. This decision immediately made the “king” angry.
The mid-court screen was still in slow motion, LeBron repeatedly pointed to his toes with the explanation that he had not stepped on the line.
But the referee’s decision was not changed, the match continued with 1 more free throw point from the Timberwolves and James’s unsuccessful scoring attempt immediately afterward.
The match ended with a final score of 108-106, victory for Minnesota and defeat for the Lakers. Since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament, the Los Angeles team has lost 7 out of 10 matches.
Let’s take a closer look at the ball that made LeBron James angry and lost on his birthday.
The slow motion situation shows that before throwing, James’s foot did not seem to step on the line. But when he pressed the post to jump, it seemed that LeBron’s shoe toe was slightly above the 3-point arc.
There is no way to 100% determine whether LeBron James stepped on the line or not, especially when the camera angles show that the image is quite sensitive.
The referees further explained that the initial decision on the field was 2 points. After reviewing the video from many angles, they did not have a convincing enough view to turn this situation from 2 points to 3 points, so the decision of 2 points was kept.
” Right on the field, the ball was initially counted as 2 points. After reviewing the video, we did not have any evidence clear enough to make a conclusion , so changing the decision did not happen. That is The reason why the ball remains the same is to count 2 points “, referee Tony Brothers explained to reporters.
Personally, LeBron James still believes that he did not step on the line. The star, who just turned 39, said: “It was clearly a 3-point shot, my feet were behind the line. Everyone can see the space on the floor between my feet and the 3-point line.”
“Even Stevie Wonder could see it was a 3-point play,” James added jokingly because Stevie Wonder is a famous blind singer.
After sharing with reporters, LeBron went to social networks and posted another post about this play. He called this a “great birthday gift” and thanked him for it.
This is a situation that will be discussed a lot on social networks in the coming days. But for LeBron James and his teammates, they will have to immediately forget this defeat.
Tomorrow morning (January 1, 2024) Vietnam time, the Lakers will have their second match in two days with a trip to New Orleans Pelicans Stadium.
