Not happy, LeBron James. His Los Angeles Lakers team lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night (108-106), while he himself thought he had equalized with 2.3 seconds left in the match. The Wolves were leading 107-104 when James, on a counterattack, made a long shot. Tie? No, because according to the referees, his right foot bit the 3-point line. Only two points were therefore awarded.
After review, the referees upheld their decision. Ulcerated, James was filmed pointing at the still image, where his foot appears to be behind the arc. His teammates joined him in demanding explanations from the refereeing body. In vain.
Questioned after the meeting, LeBron James laughed. “It was obviously a 3-point basket,” he said. My foot is behind the line. You can see the space between my foot and the line, you can see the floor between the two. And the four-time NBA champion added: “Stevie Wonder could see it.”
“After reviewing the image, it was not clear enough to go from a 2 pt shot to a 3 pt shot,” explained referee Tony Brothers after the match. “Why do we have slow motion?” asked LeBron James, leading scorer in NBA history, who was celebrating his 39th birthday that evening. A somewhat ruined birthday.