{"id":1924252,"date":"2026-05-08T05:07:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1924252"},"modified":"2026-05-08T05:07:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:07:46","slug":"jj-redick-rips-officiating-after-game-2-loss-lebron-has-worst-whistle-of-any-star-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1924252","title":{"rendered":"JJ Redick rips officiating after Game 2 loss: \u2018LeBron has worst whistle of any star player\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 As the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 long night of frustration with the officials was finally nearing its end, Austin Reaves decided that there was still more left to say.<\/p>\n

With the Oklahoma City Thunder taking a 2-0 lead in this Western Conference semifinals series with a 125-107 Game 2 win<\/a>, 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\u00a0\u2014 a move that he deemed \u201cdisrespectful.\u201d Little did Reaves know that his entire team would soon join him around the officiating crew.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Thunder players, coaches and staff all began to gravitate toward the purple-and-gold group, it seemed, out of curiosity and confusion.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cDo we get to meet (too)?\u201d Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could be heard joking nearby<\/p>\n

The floor cleared soon thereafter, but the Lakers\u2019 dissatisfaction with the whistle most certainly remained.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Afterward, Redick\u00a0passionately defended LeBron James\u2019 whistle \u2014 or lack thereof \u2014 following another physical, emotionally charged game against Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, he gets clobbered on that one with Jaylin Williams trying to come over and block that shot,\u201d Redick said. \u201cLeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redick insisted his frustration extended beyond just one officiating crew or this particular playoff matchup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been with him two years now,\u201d Redick said. \u201cThere\u2019s, again, the smaller guys, because they can be theatrical, they typically draw more fouls than the bigger players that are built like LeBron. It\u2019s hard for them, that he gets clobbered. He got clobbered again tonight a bunch. That\u2019s not like a new thing. That\u2019s not specific to this crew or this series. He gets fouled a lot. Doesn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

{“endpoint”:”https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql”}<\/p>\n

Redick later added this about the Thunder: \u201cThey\u2019re hard enough to play. You\u2019ve got to be able to just call them if they foul, and they do foul.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Redick spent the vast majority of the game incensed at the officials, Reaves\u2019 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\u2019d managed to stay close for much of the evening.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s f\u2014ed up,\u201d the Lakers\u2019 LeBron James could be heard yelling at Goble as he headed for the bench.<\/p>\n

Moments later, Reaves approached Goble about the interaction, putting his finger in Goble\u2019s face and later calling him a derogatory term. Goble, in turn, could be heard shouting \u201cGet out of my face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) May 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I was respectful to all of them all night,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, there\u2019s a million times in the past I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he turned around and just yelled in my face. I just thought it was disrespectful.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cYou know, the whole time that was going on over there, I don\u2019t 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\u2019re grown men. And I just didn\u2019t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that. I told him that. I wasn\u2019t 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\u2019t get a tech is because he knew he was in the wrong. So, yeah, I just felt disrespected.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 <\/i>sitting courtside,\u00a0James directed an expletive-filled complaint toward Goble<\/a> from the floor.<\/p>\n

Redick did, too.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThey have a few guys that foul on every possession,\u201d said Redick, whose team had 21 free throws to the Thunder\u2019s 26. \u201cThere was a stretch where (on) four-straight possessions our guys got absolutely clobbered. We\u2019re trying to make an entry pass to Jaxson (Hayes), and Jaylin Williams is grabbing his jersey with both arms. They\u2019re hard enough to play. They\u2019re hard enough to play, and you\u2019ve got to be able to just call it if they foul. And they do foul.\u201d<\/p>\n

The officiating tension became one of the defining undercurrents of Game 2. Yet, for all of the Lakers\u2019 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\u2019s first-round sweep of Phoenix, but has averaged just 20 points through two games against Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The problem for the Lakers is that everything else unraveled around it. Oklahoma City\u2019s depth overwhelmed Los Angeles in Game 2, and now the Lakers return home carrying growing frustration with both the Thunder \u2014 and the whistle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 As the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1924252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1924252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1924252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1924252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1924252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}