Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick took issue with what he felt were missed fouls on LeBron James during their 125-107 Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.
"LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I've ever seen," Redick told reporters postgame.
"I've been with him two years now. ... The smaller guys, because they can be theatric, they typically draw more fouls. And the bigger players that are built like LeBron, it's hard for them. He gets clobbered, and he got clobbered tonight a bunch. That's not a new thing. That's not specific to this crew or this series. He gets fouled a lot but it doesn't happen. Guy gets hit on the head more than any player I've seen on drives and it rarely gets called."
James scored 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting in Game 2 but made just four trips to the line, converting all four. The 41-year-old, who averaged 5.3 free-throw attempts during the regular season and 7.7 in the first round against the Phoenix Suns, missed his only free-throw attempt in the Lakers' 108-90 Game 1 loss Tuesday.
"I sarcastically said the other day they were the most disruptive team without fouling," Redick added. "They have a few guys that foul on every possession, and all of the good defenses do.
"(Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) gets like - I don't even know - a touch foul, I guess, on a drive. There was a stretch where (on) four straight possessions, our guys got absolutely clobbered. ... They're hard enough to play. You gotta be able to just call it if they foul. And they do foul."
Redick did not appear to be the only Laker aggrieved by the officiating. The team huddled around Austin Reaves, the Lakers' leading scorer in Game 2, as the 27-year-old confronted one of the officials after the final buzzer.
Austin Reaves and the Lakers team talking to the refs after the final buzzer. pic.twitter.com/kTwa88fr6f
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) May 8, 2026
The Lakers will attempt to avoid going down 3-0 in the series Saturday at home.
