[Highlight] LeBron James gets Lu Dort with the pump fake, gets hit, he shoots the ball, but no shooting foul (with replays).
LeBron cannot believe it.
What is actually happening? Are we going to ever really find out?
Yeah in like 10 years when NBAgate drops
Ref betting scandal v2 brought to you by fanduel.
This is what I’m thinking, there’s no way sports betting isn’t at the very least a factor.
tony brothers is 100% fixing games
Next commissioner gonna admit to screwing LeBron out of 2 chips to keep the GOAT debate on tv
Project b has an owner or group of owners making sure Bron doesn’t continue the fuckery at 40+ then be the face of a league he co-owns that competes with the nba. While giving its players equity being enticing enough to leech talent out of the nba and prospect pool and giving players union leverage to do the same in the nba.
Before the Epstein files, eh?
Pablo will find out some shit on this
Pablo and Klutch Sports vs the NBA, Refs Union, and Gambling Companies.
And then…. nothing will happen
I genuinely can’t understand how the wolves spurs game last night was a UFC match but the Thunder have like 15 viral clips of the refs blatantly helping them.
Big market bias towards OKC
The NBA wants a small market team like OKC to be successful so that they can sell expansion teams to billionaires
Spurs were already successful for 20 years. I don’t buy that
Spurs have been around since the 60s, they want to show they can grow a new market.
Take a look at New Orleans and Memphis. Those markets havent grown an ounce
Exactly, which is why they need to show one can succeed
I don’t buy into conspiracies but if you’re following this logic, they aren’t saying that every small market has gotten/is getting this benefit, just that the league wants 1 example to point to. Memphis NO still struggling doesn’t mean anything to the original claim
It’s all just stupid. OKC had support even in their down years. And they don’t need games rigged to win. New Orleans and Memphis absolutely do
sucks being poor
They rigged the lottery for the Spurs to get Wemby lol
That’s silly. The next two expansion teams are going to Seattle and Las Vegas almost assuredly, and after that, Silver wants to expand to Mexico City or some shit.
Yeah that’s what’s bizarre, why would the league want this? Like even if it’s been coincidence so far you’d think they would’ve sent out a memo to make calls against them just to stop people complaining lmao
Dynasties sell. Thunder win two titles in a row. All off-season, NBA media will talk about a three-peat or whether they can break the wins record. Every Thunder game next year gets eyes on it, tickets sell, television numbers go up; people tune in to see the Thunder lose.
That’s the only thing I can come up with. It’s very, very obvious that SOMETHING is occurring behind the scenes. It’s got to the point that it’s impossible to deny that, for some fucking reason, the OKC Thunder are getting a whistle on both offense and defense that no other team is coming close to getting.
They have they been doing all this CBA stuff to prevent dynasties for the last 10 years but you think they’re rigging games to create a dynasty in Oklahoma
CBA is decided by the teams and players. NBA and refs have nothing to do with it. your comment doesn’t use logic
Jokes on them, the Thunder are horrendous to watch.
In a global market why does local market size matter? The NBA needs rivalries and dynasties, and the Lakers aren’t equipped to provide for either. OKC and the Spurs? Wemby vs Chet and Shai. Now we’re talking rivalries and dynasties.
Because they’re trying to entice potential franchise owners into buying into expansion teams. It’s no fun to buy into a losing franchise, so they’re basically saying “look at OKC! They’re an expansion team, and they’re doing really well! See their owner and how happy they look? That could be you!”. More teams, more markets, more profits.
OKC isn’t an expansion team.
why would the league want this?
The fans in the 80s were asking a similar thing about the Bad Boy Pistons. It made no sense that the NBA just allowed basketball to turn into tackle football for like 5 years and then stopped.
And some wonder why there is so much hate for OKC
Big markets are maxed out. Better to expand into middle America and sells the upside to whichever billionaires want in on the future expansion teams / TV deals
Middle America, now it’s a tragedy, now it’s so sad to see, an upper-class city, losing to OKC
It actually kind of makes sense when comparing it to the NFL. NFL players will just go to whatever team is well run and deep history even if it is somewhere like Green Bay.
NFL has way more parity than NBA as well so going to small market teams isn’t as punishing
they want a dynasty , thats what pulls numbers in the playoffs
No they want to set up a dynasty and have Big Vic tear it down
Spurs in 6
I’m lowkey starting to feel this way a bit, like they’re propping OKC up as the next GSW only for Wemby and Spurs to take over(who I do think can legitimately win a series against OKC). Basically creating a novella where OKC is the big bad and Spurs are the prophetical hero.
It’s either that or gambling, idk.
There’s no way they want that
Everyone hates OKC. They’re a boring team with unlikeable players.
Unless they’re trying to set up a villain to be toppled by Wemby or something. Cause truly, I don’t know anyone that’s an OKC fan that isn’t from there. No one is out there saying SGA is their favorite player lol
The birth of the crynasty
Does an OKC dynasty really pull numbers?
I have zero interest in watching this NBA product
No one wants to watch this flopping ass OKC team. This is unethical basketball
LeBron will tell you that they fouled less. He understands.
Let’s be real the shit happened after the bump. There’s way better proof of refs being corrupt than this
If you would’ve told me 15 years ago I’d be cheering for LeBron to get a better whistle I would’ve called you crazy… yet here we are.
Reading this from a Celtics fan makes me think I’m having a stroke
I enjoy good basketball what can I say? I want to see the man succeed at this stage in his career.
if you can only beat them with bullshit officiating then you’re not playing basketball anymore. You’re playing referee’s favourite.
That’s how it has always been. Look at the Lakers-Kings series in 2002. What goes around comes around.
Feels like 40+ year old LeBron just makes people want to root for him regardless of the team, except OKC fans right now.
brother we are all cheering for you it’s bizarre
LeBron never had a great whistle. Stronger players never do tbh
Yeah, it was the rest of the Heat that were fishing for calls back in the day
This logic makes no sense when you look at the type of whistles Steph Curry has gotten in his career.
Strong players, and Steph Curry, don’t get an easy whistle.
Disagree. His whistle in that 48 point game in the 2007 playoffs against the Pistons was insane in my biased opinion.
One game from checks notes 19 years ago is quite the stretch my friend
I said I was biased!
True but after a certain point he just stopped getting calls. I think it happened around the end of the Heatles era
Dude…. he had a playoffs he averaged 14 freethrows a GAME.
Edit: Can yall relax? I’m on Lebron’s side here.
It’s prime Lebron, he was driving all game of course he’s gonna get fouled a ton
First prime*
Flair checks out
A decade later im finally at the acceptance stage
2009 Bron was unstoppable, he got hacked every play
And those were all very legitimate free throws. Players were literally bear hugging him in that era.
And he got fouled like 20 times per game but only 5-10 would get called… Watching his first stint in Cleveland he’d get fouled almost every single drive down the lane, hard slap fouls on his arms but unless he missed the layup it wouldn’t get called.
Fr, like if you told me as a kid I’d be getting mad not only for Bron, but for Bron on the fucking Lakers? Like I want him and them to lose, but not like this
These refs got me fucked up. I am cheering for a lakers and bron whistle oh my god Adam silver has brought me low
Not just LeBron, LeBron on the lakers!
I just enjoy good basketball dude. (Marcus Smart deserves a ring as well.)
I personally find it cathartic to watch as a longtime Lebron hater, but I also despise this current Thunder team.
I feel you. LeBron has undoubtedly grown on me over the years. Just gotta respect what he’s doing at this age and the way he carries himself.
He waits for the contact before he starts his shooting motion, but they almost always call that a shooting foul.
By the letter, it’s not one, but it’s been called one all the time so just make it so for consistency’s sake.
Folks over here far too often attribute to malice what is so obviously explained by incompetence.
Consistent and intentional incompetence is malice at its worst.
Off topic but are you a lover of the song Danny Boy or are you Danny, lover of boys
Thank you for asking My little brother actually got me on Reddit and I call him Danny boy. And I love him. So I’m dannyboylover
Incompetence at this level for this level of prolonged time, specifically around OKC games with no NBA intervention to make the refs less crap?
Nah. This is beyond incompetence.
Of all the players they decide cannot get that call, they choose LeBron James lmao truly the Chosen One
The Chef Curry special. I’ll never forget watching him drop 50 during a Game 7 with only 5fta.
The refs are having way to much of a negative impact on the final product.
SGA gets that call 99⁄100
More like 101⁄100 because there will flagrant on one of them
Immediately after that SGA drove and didn’t even get to try to shoot but got to the foul line
No they don’t. He gets hit, then starts to shoot. Most other players pump, then go in the shooting motion when the defender is coming down (like Shai has done a 1000 times). That’s legal and is a shooting foul.
Actually yeah after the close up replay it’s not that bad of a call imo, LeBron starts jumping basically after contact was made
I watched the highlight and then was like “yeah, he never even started his shooting motion until after the contact, what’s the issue here?” And then I come to the comments and everyone is saying continuation.
This was good reffing and should be how they ref all of these situations. For continuation the guy needs to be at least STARTING his shooting motion, and yes on a layup the gather can be part of that motion.
I just want to say that, regardless of what the rules say, I think this shouldn’t be a shooting foul. I like the call. I want the refs to call all of these this way and be consistent about it.
I have never in my life not seen that called as a shooting foul
They haven’t been calling it as much this year. This was called correctly.
That’s the thing. Our brains see that and go, “yep, shooting foul.”
Just like the one last night. “Yep, continuation.”
Okay, they’re apparently calling it by the letter of the rule. Interesting that for the decades that I’ve been a die hard fan, LeBron’s gather in game 2 of the 2026 second round is when they decide to start applying that.
I’m not a Lakers fan. But when I see these, I imagine like Pat Connoughton or some random player in the situation, and evaluate it like that. Both of those calls feel wrong when I do that.
Yeah a lot of people in the bottom of the thread don’t seem to understand that nuance
Also this is VERY CLEARLY not a “natural shooting motion.” Dort even contests to the side to avoid fouling and LeBron turns his body 90 degrees to the basket, steps forward into Dort’s path (again, laterally to the basket), then wildly throws up a “shot” after the contact. In absolutely no world is that a shooting foul.
In fact, literally just a couple years ago the NBA implemented a whole rule change and/or point of emphasis about “unnatural launch angles” that made THIS EXACT move (and other sideways launches) into an OFFENSIVE foul. Of course, like every other point of emphasis, it lasted like half a season before being forgotten, but that doesn’t change the fact that by the letter of the law this is not only NOT a shooting foul, it should be a foul on LeBron.
But that doesn’t fit the narrative on r/Lakers – er, sorry I mean r/NBA
Exactly. I’m surprised he didn’t get the call, but that is absolutely the correct call.
Shai would have got free throws bro lol that’s like his signature move.
I feel like the Refs must personally like SGA because he defended them in the media because only he gets these calls.
SGA shoes right at the ref’s front door every release
Joked about this in a game thread, but I think OKC have discovered the new NBA meta.
~12 years ago analytics guys found the value of everyone shooting the 3 and Splash Bros and the Warriors took off. A few years later Houston with Harden found the value in drawing fouls. OKC seems to elevate the Houston/Harden strat at a team level, and focusing on how to do the little things on defense that should be fouls but when everyone is doing them constantly, they don’t get called (tbf, other players do this as well, but OKC seems to be the best as a team at it). They gotta be coaching their players on drawing fouls bc players traded to OKC start playing differently almost immediately.
It sucks more than the previous shifts because there’s literally nothing you can do if the refs aren’t seeing the fouls. There’s no counter play other than lobbying the refs more. It just sucks to watch.
Idk if robo refs would ever work in basketball because the game innately involves so much legal contact that it can be hard to objectively find where the line is crossed.
Yeah, it’s not like ABS in baseball where there is objectively a right and wrong call. There’s a lot of gray area in basketball.
This is 100% a factor IMO.
Refs are people. Stars got comfortable yelling at them, begging for calls, and every once in a while it made the refs second guess how they were gonna be talked about tomorrow morning and start giving calls.
OKC has turned that on its head by completely ignoring the refs. They exaggerate and attempt to draw foul calls, but when fouls are or aren’t called they just move on. And the refs respect that. Then subconsciously OKC just gets the benefit of the doubt more often.
Basically I’m saying Austin Reaves literally could not be going about this any worse lmao.
I’d argue FTA’s signature moves are the chicken wing or the slip and slide
They would have probably ejected the defender if it was sga
Specifically, getting free throws is his signature move
Shai would’ve gotten the call before he started his motion
I genuinely starting to believe there is bias and the OKC championship is not legit
SGA would have been wheelchaired to the line
It shouldn’t be a shooting foul, but it IS a shooting foul for the vast majority of the league, especially SGA
This is exactly why it’s so maddening.
Call. It. Consistently.
facts, just call it equally or none at all
This is correct (and I can’t remember the year they said they were gonna make an emphasis on it). If it’s not part of your natural shooting motion, it’s not a foul. The fact that LeBron moves to make the contact then shoots is the type of fouls they were trying to eliminate. I’ve seen it not called a lot, especially at the 3 point line. (Harden probably shoulda got an “and 1” when he made the late 3 earlier today)
But ya, the inconsistency is maddening
It’s been a shooting foul for 20 years
I’ve lost all respect sorry this is absolutely rigged for money Or ratings in not sure which. I won’t be silent. Just saw it live sry,
Why would the Thunder sweeping the LeBron James-led Lakers be good for ratings
Cuz the new face of the league FTA sweeps the all time great LeBron and the Lakers boosting the value of FTAs brand
look if its rigged why the fuck would you pick Oklahoma a state no one gives a shit about? there gotta be richer people to pay the bribes in a bigger state like Texas
it’s a pasta
It’s sad seeing old pasta go unrecognized. Top replies are all confused smh
The association loves a Dynasty
The NBA is turning Shai into the new face of the NBA.Ant and Ja fizzled out,Luka got traded with all the drama,Trae fizzled out and got traded.Jokic can’t get pass the first round now,Giannis has all that drama in Milwaukee.Jaylen Brown doesn’t have that it thing to be the face of the NBA,Tatum disappears in the playoffs/finals.Booker fizzled out.
Does anyone actually like Shai except OKC fans? The foul baiting and ridiculous calls make the game unwatchable for me
Classic
All the other replies taking it seriously smh. We’re losing the old copypastas to time 🥲
At least it’s upvoted though lol. The day this sub starts downvoting memes like “he f****** boomed me. He’s so good (x4)”, I’ll know I’ve become an nba old head
I’m not a fan of LBJ. But it should be a shooting foul
That’s a shooting foul for a couple players in the league. But players like Steph and LeBron? Na
Lyndon Baines Johnson?
Pardoning Frank Boykin was just too much.
Why? He got hit, then started his upward motion.
Yeah this seems obvious, Bron stans are just being salty
Regardless of whether or not this is a foul, I could spend 30 minutes and probably find 50 examples of this being called as a shooting foul since the all star break
I’m a huge LBJ fan and don’t think this is a shooting foul. Shooting motion pretty clearly begins after contact
And why don’t you like Lebron lmao?
lol why aren’t you a fan?
Look I accepted going into the series we are going to lose, I made peace with that. At least let OKC beat us properly and don’t actively piss me off with bullshit along the way.
Right? I just wanted good, competitive games. And the last 2 games, lakers had a lead at half, which is amazing. But these damn refs and the fucking flopping killing the good competitive part of the game.
Dubs Lakers series from 2023 was literally like this. Tons of ticky tack fouls on Reaves Dlo Schroder AD. And no calls for LeBron Steph
Lakers actually shot more than double the FTA of OKC this game lol
Lakers currently have 12 more free throw attempts than the Thunder. Stfu and quit whining
Take out all the free throws both ways and the average margin of victory is still over 20 points. Take out all the Thunder free throws and leave all the Laker free throws, you still only win one game by 3 and lose the other 2
Lebron starts his shooting motion as Dort is landing - he’s not yet in the air. This is a shooting foul.
The foul clearly occurs before the upright motion of shooting. This is a foul, but not a shooting foul.
it is not a shooting foul by the books. but the refs call it as one, for most of the league. so which is it
They’ve called it before, but they often don’t call it this late. It really wasn’t that close, even in real time
“I’m mad they called it correctly” I guess
Lakers whistle my ass, that shit belongs to the Thunder
The problem is LeBron didn’t contort his face like a muppet and flail like a dead body in GTA
lebron’s just a bad actor, he should just snaps his head back every possession.
It’s unreasonably frustrating watching the refs butcher these games. I think we’d win outright very well, maybe in 5, who cares, but call the fucking game correctly.
Well the problem, the actual problem, is that it WAS called correctly. It shouldn’t be a shooting foul. But the Thunder in particular win games with that exact foul.
A Thunder fan with an actual reasonable take. You DO exist.
Fr. The Thunder is an unfairly good team with the most depth I’ve ever seen but this shit refs want to make it about them. They dont need the extra help
Celtic fans out here pulling for the lakers this shit so bad
Refs gotta be a new level of ass for this to even happen lmaoooo
Pablo Torre better get the dirt on whatever is behind OKC’s power over the refs
Fuck OKC and the refs.
LA ended up shooting 25ft’s to OKC’s 10. Don’t let that change your opinion tho.
this should be given a foul or not? does SGA gets free throws here or not? stay on topic
Shai does this atleast a few times a game, Brunson, Brown etc. the patented D Wade move. They usually get the call for it though.
Good call. Wish it was consistently called this way.
But it’s not, that’s the problem, SGA 100% wouldve gotten a shooting foul here
How embarrassing is this sub lmao. He clearly starts his shooting motion after being hit. Fuck off, that’s not a shooting foul. Foul baiting nonsense.
Yeah. People here just want to complain about the thunder more.
Not a fan of both teams but if SGA pulled something like this, most of the outrage in this sub would be against him. Feels like he will just get hated no matter what.
I agree that fouls like these should not be a continuation regardless of who it is. Blame the ref, not the players.
Foul before he started his shooting motion. Hes got to start shooting a little earlier than that
Steph Curry: “First time?”
Do warriors fans all have collective agreement to comment his name after any player gets a bad call
The only time people will get technical with the rules lmao that’s a shooting foul 10 out of 10 times any other game. actually baffling people dont see whats going on
that’s not a shooting foul IMO. He shoots after feeling the contact. But it’s the class foul bait move that SGA would get called every time. No consistency.
He wasn’t in shooting motion. Good call.
The fact that your getting downvotes really goes to show the state of this sub. A bunch of kids that play 2K and think they know everything about every aspect of the NBA.
This is not a shooting foul lmao.
His back is facing the basket when contact happens https://i.imgur.com/6lXikVb.jpeg, you’re crazy if you think that’s a shooting foul
Not even close to in a shooting motion
Pablo better be working on this ASAP
This thread did not age well.
Learn the rules guys
He pump fakes he then moves to where he knows dort will land, waits to get hit then shoots. That’s not a shooting foul. Others may get that whistle but he made it to obvious by stepping over across his body and facing away from the basket. Awkward and not a good sell for the ref
JJ (as usual) was right. LeBron’s whistle is fucking ass
This is an obvious up and under.
Lets be real here. The entire point of this is to protect from undercutting someone via an up and under and having the defender land on its head.
This could have been a blow by dunk easy.
That is not a shooting foul, if you think it is you don’t know the rules. Post the Thunder getting a fucking foul on the opening tip
The whistle on LeBron is ridiculous while SGA gets this call 10⁄10
I actually like the call, because they said they outlawed this move, but they literally call it all the time anyway and just randomly decide not too sometimes
“Why would they ever rig it for a small market team from Oklahoma?”
What the hell do y’all call this then?
You know this is the correct call… right?
Cleary was on the floor yal catch a grip. Was belt to ass tonight
Like I agree it shouldn’t be a shooting foul, but you don’t call it that way for most other superstars so wtf are we doing here
Great call on slomo replay. You are all way too absorbed in established narratives to be impartial.
They’ve called it like that for as long as I can remember. He wasn’t even facing the basket at the time of contact
This isn’t a shooting foul. It hasn’t been called a shooting foul for at least two seasons. The NBA adjusted the rules for what constitutes a shooting motion, and LeBron is too old to adjust his shooting form to match the new definition.
‘Bron’s mistake was to drop his hands down, shoulder the leaping Dort, drops his hands down again, and then starts his shot. The NBA has specifically told the refs to call that on the floor.
What ‘Bron should’ve done is never lower his hands and start raising his hands upwards in a fake shooting motion before shouldering Dort, let the ball fly out of his hands when there’s contact, and finally yelp. There’s your shooting foul.
Why would that be a shooting foul?
Did we start watching NBA yesterday? thats a classic whistle
because thats been called over the last 20+ years
https://youtu.be/ws-pHBBjkts?si=EcdaYHmGeLGwyDQU
FYI, dwade retired 7 years ago.
He hadn’t gathered and wasn’t going up until after the foul was complete. Very clearly not a shooting foul, but people want something to cry about.
Look at the second clip — it’s the same shit lol. Very clearly a shooting foul. SGA has been doing that throughout the entire regular season.
It just sounds like they aren’t consistent about it. But on principle I don’t think it should be a shooting foul. Bron stopped his shooting motion to lean into the contact then started another shooting motion AFTER the contact was made.
If you watched the video, you’d know that Wade took the shot after he got his defender in the air and leaned in. Lebron wasn’t going up with the ball, and he was moving sideways. I like LeBron, and he’s one of my favorite players (genuinely), but that wasn’t a shooting foul.
Seriously what am I missing here