One of the biggest storylines following the Lakers' game two loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder was the confrontation between Austin Reaves and the referees. NBA Senior Vice President of Referee Development Monty McCutchen weighed in on what occurred in comments obtained by ESPN.
“We teach our officials to go to center court so we’re not leaving at the same time when emotions can run high. Most certainly, we want interactions to be professional there, I do think that had a look to it, but there wasn’t a ton of profanity or anything like that. It was out of the ordinary, there’s no doubt about that.”
He added, “Austin [Reaves] was in control, John [Goble] did a good job of letting him hear his peace. There were a couple of plays at the end of that game that lived on the nuances of our rules… I can understand in the passion of that moment the disagreement from a team. If there is meaningful conversation after and it’s not out of control, and in this situation it was not, we want to make sure on our end we are not defensive and willing to listen.”
One of the plays that frustrated the Lakers with the referees was a moment during the jump ball between Austin Reaves and Cason Wallace. Ahead of a jump-ball situation, Reaves tried to position himself around Cason Wallace before the ball was tossed, prompting referee Scott Goble to address him, which didn't sit well with Reaves.
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Reaves broke down what occurred in postgame comments obtained by Spectrum Sportsnet.
“I felt like I was respectful to all of them all night. A million times in the past, I've said way worse stuff. And when we were doing the whole tip ball and they were switching spots, I wanted to get on the other side because they had a guy on the other side, was just trying to keep an advantage. And he turned around and yelled in my face…I just thought it was disrespectful.”
The Lakers now head into a pivotal Game 3 in Los Angeles, looking for a shot to keep the series with the defending champs alive.
One of the biggest storylines following the Lakers' game two loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder was the confrontation between Austin Reaves and the referees. NBA Senior Vice President of Referee Development Monty McCutchen weighed in on what occurred in comments obtained by ESPN.