LEAKED Audio Of LeBron James Getting Heated At A Ref👀:

“Call the f*cking foul, b*tch a** n****” pic.twitter.com/K8q71AFhsR

— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) April 4, 2024

James is outside the top 20 in free throws attempted per game, which is incredibly shocking given how James is one of the best drivers of the ball to have ever lived. He continues taking the ball to the hole very often, with the only difference being his well-developed jumper that allows him to keep defenses guessing.

James shouldn’t have spoken to a referee like that and is lucky he didn’t get ejected or a technical foul for his behavior. Given the controversial relationship between referees and players right now, it seems James could care less about possibly being caught abusing them.

The 39-year-old Lakers star is averaging 25.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.1 assists this season. Curiously, these stats are despite having a low 5.6 FTA, something that shows James has dealt with an unfair whistle this season while the Lakers as a whole have maximized their play-style to generate free throws at a historic rate.

The League Isn’t Helping The Lakers Climb Up The Standings

It is easy to point fingers at the NBA and blame them for all controversial decisions. While they’re complicit in the new age of referees making constant mistakes because they’re never penalized for it, they’re not as directly involved with controlling results in the league as fans like to joke,

The Lakers’ free throw differential talk point came from an analysis of data that didn’t include the concept of players deliberately hunting foul calls. LeBron does not do that and his free throw rate suffers mightily as a result. Despite being a poor FT shooter his entire career, James is shooting an above-average 74.8% from the charity stripe this season.

These moments prompt fans to start spinning conspiracy theories about why the league is forcing the Lakers into the Finals or the playoffs, but come on guys. All teams have been playing in a super competitive version of the NBA for the last two seasons and the norm of baseline competition increasing as well. All teams are running on the brink of the cutting edge and want to succeed. The Lakers are no different.

They’ve gone 20-8 over their last 22 games but are still stuck in the Play-in Tournament. As long as they keep winning, I’m not worried about them locking up a playoff spot. But to be ‘rewarded’ with a first-round series against the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the OKC Thunder could be scary.