Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is not pleased with the current state of officiating in the NBA.
During the most recent episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, James raised some serious concerns regarding the inconstancy displayed by league referees this season.
"As a player, it's so inconsistent the way it's called," James said. "And as players, we just want consistency. On any given night, you can have one official telling you one thing, and then another official telling you another thing. My take is, is this not a world league conversation that you guys are having about like, ‘This is how we're officiating these plays, this is how we're officiating these moves, this is how we're this,' or is it just depending on the refs?”
"That's the most frustrating part when you're out there, and sometimes you can get away with certain things,” James continued. ” … Even defensively, some games you're allowed to get away with bear hugging guys and holding them, and then two nights later you can barely put your hands on guys. It's like, ‘What are we doing?’"
James and the Lakers currently hold fifth position in the Western Conference standings with a 39-25 record. The team has won five of its last six games, notching back-to-back victories over the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks this past weekend.
In his 23rd NBA season, James is averaging 21.4 points, 7.0 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game. The 41-year-old NBA superstar missed each of the Lakers’ last two games as he continues to deal with a variety of injury issues.
James is listed as questionable to play in Tuesday night’s crucial Western Conference matchup against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. He did not participate in Monday’s practice session.
Tuesday’s game will tipoff at 11 p.m. ET from Los Angeles.
2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.