Patrick Beverley Goes Viral For Showing Referee Camera Shot of LeBron James Getting Fouled
The Los Angeles Lakers nearly clinched victory against the Boston Celtics Saturday night.
LeBron James went for the winning layup in the final seconds of regulation. He was fouled by Jayson Tatum but no call was made on the court, sending the game to overtime. The Lakers’ loss in overtime made the no-call worse in hindsight.
Patrick Beverley, who had a brief stint with the Miami Heat in 2010, stuck up for his Lakers teammate. He showed one referee the camera that potentially captured James being fouled. As a result, Beverley received a technical foul.
The Lakers were heated with the lack of official interference, especially after a late foul on Jaylen Brown seconds earlier. Without the foul, the Lakers would’ve still had the lead and drawn free throws to extend their lead with less than five seconds left. There’s no telling what exactly would have happened, which is why decisions need to be made on the court to exclude room for speculation. These calls arguably lost the game for Los Angeles.
The NBA recognized their officiating mistakes after the game ended, per Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin.
“The NBA has already determined in its postgame review that the officials got the call wrong on the Lakers’ last possession of the 4th quarter,” McMenamin tweeted. “Jayson Tatum should have been called for a shooting foul on LeBron James, league sources told ESPN.”
Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.
