JJ Redick rips officiating after Game 2 loss: ‘LeBron has worst whistle of any star player’

OKLAHOMA CITY — As the Los Angeles Lakers’ long night of frustration with the officials was finally nearing its end, Austin Reaves decided that there was still more left to say.

With the Oklahoma City Thunder taking a 2-0 lead in this Western Conference semifinals series with a 125-107 Game 2 win, the 27-year-old Lakers guard made the long walk toward midcourt to continue a discussion with veteran referee John Goble. Reaves later explained that he was upset about an earlier interaction in which Goble had yelled at him — a move that he deemed “disrespectful.” Little did Reaves know that his entire team would soon join him around the officiating crew.

Thunder players, coaches and staff all began to gravitate toward the purple-and-gold group, it seemed, out of curiosity and confusion.

“Do we get to meet (too)?” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could be heard joking nearby

The floor cleared soon thereafter, but the Lakers’ dissatisfaction with the whistle most certainly remained.

Lakers coach JJ Redick spent much of the night visibly upset with the officiating crew during a game filled with constant whistles, emotional swings and visible frustration from both teams. Early in the first quarter, Redick himself picked up a technical foul in the first quarter after erupting at referee Ben Taylor with the Lakers facing an early double-digit deficit.

Afterward, Redick passionately defended LeBron James’ whistle — or lack thereof — following another physical, emotionally charged game against Oklahoma City.

“Well, he gets clobbered on that one with Jaylin Williams trying to come over and block that shot,” Redick said. “LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen.”

Redick insisted his frustration extended beyond just one officiating crew or this particular playoff matchup.

“I’ve been with him two years now,” Redick said. “There’s, again, the smaller guys, because they can be theatrical, they typically draw more fouls than the bigger players that are built like LeBron. It’s hard for them, that he gets clobbered. He got clobbered again tonight a bunch. That’s not like a new thing. That’s not specific to this crew or this series. He gets fouled a lot. Doesn’t happen.”

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Redick later added this about the Thunder: “They’re hard enough to play. You’ve got to be able to just call them if they foul, and they do foul.”

While Redick spent the vast majority of the game incensed at the officials, Reaves’ complaint was of a far more personal nature. With 6:06 left in the fourth quarter and the Thunder up 10, he jostled for position on a jump-ball with Thunder guard Cason Wallace. According to Reaves, Goble shouted directly in his face before the ball went up. Wallace buried a 3 from there, with the game finally getting away from the Lakers after they’d managed to stay close for much of the evening.

“That’s f—ed up,” the Lakers’ LeBron James could be heard yelling at Goble as he headed for the bench.

Moments later, Reaves approached Goble about the interaction, putting his finger in Goble’s face and later calling him a derogatory term. Goble, in turn, could be heard shouting “Get out of my face.”

I want to call this the game within the game, but these teams versus this crew has been explosive for the entire game. Lakers were furious about the way that jump ball was officiated. Thunder snagged it, went down the floor and got a Cason Wallace 3 and Redick timeout. pic.twitter.com/ZJaZWbkofX

— Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) May 8, 2026

After the game, Reaves, who bounced back from a horrific Game 1 performance on Tuesday to finish with a playoff career-high 31 points and six assists, said he felt disrespected by the exchange.

“I felt like I was respectful to all of them all night,” he said. “I mean, there’s a million times in the past I’ve said way worse stuff. And when we were doing the whole tip-ball when they were switching spots, I wanted to get on the other side because they had a guy on the other side, was just trying to keep an advantage.

“And he turned around and just yelled in my face. I just thought it was disrespectful.”

He continued: “You know, the whole time that was going on over there, I don’t think he said much to them. I know Ben, I think, stepped in and said something. But you know, at the end of the day, we’re grown men. And I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that. I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would have got a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a tech is because he knew he was in the wrong. So, yeah, I just felt disrespected.”

Reaves was hardly alone in that regard. James, who chose to avoid a league fine by keeping his view on the officiating to himself, had multiple heated interactions with Taylor and Goble throughout the game. At one point during the game, audible to reporters from The Athletic sitting courtside, James directed an expletive-filled complaint toward Goble from the floor.

Redick did, too.

“They have a few guys that foul on every possession,” said Redick, whose team had 21 free throws to the Thunder’s 26. “There was a stretch where (on) four-straight possessions our guys got absolutely clobbered. We’re trying to make an entry pass to Jaxson (Hayes), and Jaylin Williams is grabbing his jersey with both arms. They’re hard enough to play. They’re hard enough to play, and you’ve got to be able to just call it if they foul. And they do foul.”

The officiating tension became one of the defining undercurrents of Game 2. Yet, for all of the Lakers’ complaints, they still largely accomplished their primary defensive objective: slowing Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder MVP candidate averaged 31.1 points during the regular season and 33.8 points in Oklahoma City’s first-round sweep of Phoenix, but has averaged just 20 points through two games against Los Angeles.

The problem for the Lakers is that everything else unraveled around it. Oklahoma City’s depth overwhelmed Los Angeles in Game 2, and now the Lakers return home carrying growing frustration with both the Thunder — and the whistle.