lebron james preferential treatment cleveland

#LEBRON JAMES PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT CLEVELAND SERIES#

It's especially a lot to ask when coming from the league's best player, the transcendent basketball force of our time, when only 30 hours earlier he had said that flopping was 'not even a bad thing,' and added, 'Any way you can get the advantage over an opponent to help your team win, then so be it.' You're expecting them to look the other way on an illegal screen because no advantage was gained? That's a lot to ask. As Berger noted, this is the same LeBron who previously endorsed flopping:īut these are the same officials who've spent six weeks in this postseason trying to avoid getting duped by all manner of fake and exaggerated contact - especially in this series, and especially in this game. With the game on the line, you'd expect the refs to give a star like LeBron the benefit of the doubt, especially so late in the game.īut perhaps LeBron isn't being afforded such a privilege because the referees don't trust him. Of course, the superstar argument comes into play here. That's an offensive foul, and we can't expect the refs not to call it just because he had five or because Dwyane Wade changed directions.

He stuck his foot out, which you just can't do. When we go to the tape, LeBron's screen of Lance Stephenson is clearly illegal. Since LeBron was forced to exit Game 4 with a little under a minute remaining, it's a problem. The same would go for his five fouls in Game 1. Those three other fourth-quarter fouls would have been discussed, but not to this extent. This wouldn't even be as controversial an issue had he not fouled out in Game 4. LeBron isn't the scapegoat for the refs' misplaced rage, nor is he being unfairly sought out by them. Has LeBron not been getting the treatment he deserves? Is he actually being targeted by the refs? Has The King become The Victim? With the number of fouls LeBron has committed versus the Pacers seemingly inflated, conspiracy theories have begun to pick up steam. It would be even higher had he not gone all of Game 3 without being called for a foul.

#LEBRON JAMES PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT CLEVELAND SERIES#

In the series against the Pacers, that number has climbed to 3.5. He joins Allen Iverson as the only other player in league history to be whistled for under 2.5 fouls per playoff game despite receiving more than 43 minutes of burn.ĭuring these 2013 playoffs, LeBron is picking up just 2.2 fouls a night. He's being called for just 2.4 fouls in 43.9 minutes per postseason bout on his career. Only three other players in NBA history logged more than 39 minutes a night through the first 10 years of their career while committing fewer than two fouls-Latrell Sprewell, Michael Finley and Wilt Chamberlain.

And when he is, he never incurs the wrath of the zebras in such a concentrated time frame, like four personal fouls in 11 minutes.įor his career, LeBron is averaging just 1.9 personal fouls in over 39 minutes per game. He's rarely on the wrong side of a whistle. It's no surprise he was frustrated, though. Careful to avoid any comments that could result in sanctions handed down from David Stern and the NBA, LeBron bit his tongue when pressed about the issue. Lance actually ran into me.'Įvery word uttered was deliberate. 'I don't believe it was an offensive foul,' James said of his sixth foul-a moving screen-in Game 4 ( via Ken Berger of CBS Sports). 'I was going to set a screen and I felt like I was stationary. And the foreign sound of supposedly unjust shrills has left him to point fingers. Being whistled for fouls like some common rotation player hasn't suited LeBron.

Lebron james preferential treatment cleveland