Magic Johnson spoke out and defended his fellow Los Angeles Laker LeBron James after the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics. NBA fans must certainly be aware of what happened. It was a very narrow game that came down to the final possession. LeBron drove to the rim and Jayson Tatum appeared to make contact with James’ arm and stopped him from making the basket.
However, despite numerous referees being present, there was no foul call given by Eric Lewis, the referee on the court, to The King, and the game was forced into overtime. The Celtics ended up outscoring the Lakers 20-16 in OT and won the game. This was despite LeBron scoring an incredible 41 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Fans must be interested in finding out what Magic Johnson, another NBA legend, had to say on this issue.
Magic Johnson claims the NBA referee Eric Lewis blew the foul call on LeBron James
NBA referees are human and certainly can make mistakes. Be that as it may, their reputation for missing foul calls and making bad foul calls has been greatly increasing this season. Fans aren’t too happy about this, especially when it happens during late-game situations.
Unfortunately for Lakers fans, this game was played in Boston and the fans were delighted to see their hometeam land Los Angeles another loss. After all, both the Lakers and Celtics franchises have a longstanding rivalry and history.
Magic, who was a part of that history, spoke out and defended LeBron James. He also pointed out that the flaws of the referee weren’t all that inadvertent, “In last night’s @Lakers loss to the Celtics the referees completely blew the call on LeBron in the closing seconds. What made it worse is there was a referee right up under the basket watching the play unfold!”
In last night’s @Lakers loss to the Celtics the referees completely blew the call on LeBron in the closing seconds. What made it worse is there was a referee right up under the basket watching the play unfold!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 29, 2023
While it certainly makes sense for Johnson to state his opinion and protect LeBron, fans pointed out that since the game went into overtime and the Lakers still ended up losing, this didn’t change the inevitable outcome. Watching LeBron fall down and feel so disappointed about not being given a foul call also simply isn’t a very good look for him.
It shouldn’t come down to one call at the end of the game. Play better and don’t put yourself in that situation. Plus there was still OT to play and instead of focusing on that, Lebron and the Lakers were crying like babies and ultimately lost
— Steven Curry (Scurry) (@Scurry7) January 29, 2023
Who cares we got to see Lebron on the floor crying. it was worth it.
— HeelSportsFan (@MIYankees47) January 29, 2023
In any case, the Lakers lost that game and now have a subpar record of 23 wins and 27 losses. Anthony Davis played, but only scored 16 points and 10 rebounds. He will have to step up for the team if they have any hopes of making it into the NBA playoffs.
