Referees Make Major Announcement After Game-Altering Decision

Photo byNathan ShivelyonUnsplash

On Saturday, January 28, 2023, in a game between heated rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, the Boston Celtics came out victorious in overtime with a final score of 125-121, snapping a three-game losing skid.

However, the Los Angeles Lakers fully believe the game should never have even gone to overtime.

With LeBron James driving to the hoop as time was expiring in a tie game, it appeared that Jayson Tatum slapped LeBron James' arm which would have constituted a foul. However, the referees did not find it as such, as they ruled it a no-call which led to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers being furiously upset. Following the no-call, the Los Angeles Lakers fell in overtime to the Boston Celtics.

However, the NBA has since acknowledged in their last two-minute report that the referees did in fact miss the foul call. LeBron James should have been at the line shooting two free throws with virtually no time left on the clock for the Boston Celtics to come back.

Now, the NBA Referees' official Twitter account tweeted out the following statement.

Like everyone else, referees make mistakes. We made one at the end of last night’s game and that is gut-wrenching for us. This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be.

Once again in sports, the officials can acknowledge their mistakes that change the outcome of a game, but there is no corrective method to prevent it from happening during the game, or at least correcting the non-call.

Currently, in the NBA you are allowed one challenge on a call, but you can not challenge saying there should have been a foul. Now Los Angeles Lakers fans and LeBron James will forever know a game was taken from them, and there is nothing they will ever be able to do to get it back. Instead, all the team will ever get is an apology and say "oops we missed it".

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