JJ Redick identifies problem with NBA officiating

LOS ANGELES – During Los Angeles Lakers‘ 103-88 loss to the LA Clippers on Saturday, the Lakers they were booed for two technical fouls. One was on Luka Dončić, the other on Markus Smart. It’s a bit of a trend that carried over from the Lakers’ win against the Utah Jazz on Thursday when they committed three technical fouls and penalty by Marcus Smart. For Lakers head coach JJ Redick, the technicals were a byproduct of the NBA’s continued officiating problem this season.

After the Lakers’ game against the Clippers, JJ Redick talked about his renewed efforts to draw attention to the inconsistency in NBA officiating this year. He admitted that so far he has had no response from the league itself despite his persistent efforts.

“Consistency has to be addressed. It needs to be addressed, and it will be,” Redick said. “Any coach and player, what we’re looking for is consistency. And that’s not singling out any officials or any crew. That’s not what it’s about. We have to know what’s on a night-to-night basis … I’m frustrated here with that, we keep asking the league to come back and answer me … I’m not getting any response from the league.”

At the forefront of Redick’s frustrations was a play in the second half when Marcus Smart made a blocking mistake and the ball went out of play near the Lakers bench. Redick challenged the call, but not only was the challenge unsuccessful, but Redick and the officials told it was not a reviewable call.

The explanation Redick says crew chief Josh Tiven gave him was that the challenge he was attempting was on two separate plays.

“I’ve seen this happen, somebody tries to box a guy out, gets fouled. Somebody goes over the back, there’s a foul, the ball bounces off the defensive team, I’ve seen it called into question,” Redick continued. “It’s not two separate plays, the ball is part of the game. The ball came loose because of the rush … it’s not two separate plays … it’s crazy.”

In addition to the Lakers’ officiating concerns, bodies continued to fall as the game dragged on. They have already lost four key players going into Saturday’s game, The Lakers lost Luka Doncic after halftime due to a leg injury he probably died in the second quarter.

Redick had no more information about Doncic after the game, only remembering that Doncic limped in the second quarter.

The Lakers will travel to Phoenix to face the Suns on Monday before returning home for a three-game stretch to ring in the New Year.