LeBron James, Anthony Davis: Refs Missed Calls In Lakers’ Loss To Suns

LeBron James and Anthony Davis told NBA reporters that refs missed calls in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ loss to the Phoenix Suns yesterday (2/25). 

The Lakers only went to the free-throw line eight times. 

“That’s who we are. But a lot of people, a lot of coaches, a lot of teams are like, ‘That’s all the Lakers do is get to the free-throw line.’ It’s like this narrative out there that that’s all we do is get to the free-throw line,” LeBron said, via NBA reporter Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “I mean, we have attackers. That’s what we do. We have attackers. Yeah, we shoot the ball from the perimeter, but we’re not shooting 40-50 3s a game. We’re not that team. We don’t have the luxury of being that team.

“So, working it into the paint, that’s what we’re really good at. To have eight free-throw attempts is definitely not us. I know, definitely, I got hit a couple times when I got to the paint tonight that wasn’t called. But it is what it is.”

Added Davis: “We live on getting to the line. We attack the basket. I’m not sure how many points in the paint we had, but we try to live in the paint. Especially how much we struggle from the 3, we’re kind of up and down, so we try to live in the paint and get to the line. I’m not sure if it was just the refs missing it or they weren’t fouling. I felt I got fouled a couple of times. But that’s part of our identity, our DNA, is getting to the line and guys catching rhythms like that and then playing from there.”

The Lakers attempted a season-low eight free throws against the Suns, the first time this season they have been held to single-digit free-throw attempts.

The eight attempts from the foul line were tied for the Lakers’ fewest in any game since LeBron joined the franchise in 2018, according to ESPN Stats & Info. LA attempted zero free throws in the second half, which marked the first time since December 2015 that a LeBron team didn’t attempt a single free throw in a half.

Davis, who averages 6.8 free-throw attempts per game in 2023-24, took zero for the first time this season. It was also the first time he played at least 40 minutes without going to the line, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

The Lakers are 31-28 on the season. They are in ninth place in the Western Conference standings.

If the season ended today, LeBron and Davis would be in the NBA play-in tournament for the third time in four years.