JJ Redick identifies problem with NBA officiating

LOS ANGELES – During the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-88 loss against the LA Clippers on Saturday, the Lakers were whistled for two technical fouls. One was on Luka Doncic, the other on Marcus Smart. It’s a little bit of a trend that carried over from the Lakers’ win against the Utah Jazz on Thursday when they picked up three technical fouls and a Marcus Smart fine. For Lakers head coach JJ Redick, the technicals were a byproduct of a continuing problem with the NBA’s officiating this season.

Following the Lakers’ game against the Clippers, JJ Redick spoke about his repeated attempts to draw attention to the inconsistency in NBA officiating this year. He acknowledged that to this point, he has had no response from the league itself despite his persistent efforts.

“The consistency needs to be addressed. That needs to be addressed, and it will be,” Redick said. “Any coach and player, what we ask for is consistency. And that’s not to single any official out or any crew out. It’s not about that. We need to know what it is night to night. . .this is where I get frustrated with it, we keep asking the league to please reach out to me and respond. . .I don’t get any response from the league, nobody reaches out.”

At the forefront of Redick’s frustrations was a play in the second half when Marcus Smart picked up a blocking foul and the ball went out of bounds near the Lakers’ bench. Redick challenged the call, but not only was it an unsuccessful challenge, Redick was also told by the officials that it was not a reviewable call.

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

“I’ve seen this happen, somebody’s trying to box a guy out, gets fouled. Somebody goes over the back, there’s a clear foul, ball gets deflected off the defensive team, I’ve seen that challenged,” Redick continued. “It’s not two separate plays, the ball is part of the play. The ball got loose because of the charge. . .that’s not two separate plays. . .that’s insane.”

In addition to the Lakers’ concerns over the officiating, the bodies continued to drop as the game dragged on. Already down four key players coming into Saturday’s game, the Lakers lost Luka Doncic after halftime due to a leg injury he suffered presumably in the second quarter.

Redick had no further update on Doncic after the game, only that he recalled Doncic limping in the second quarter.

The Lakers will travel to Phoenix to face off against the Suns on Monday, before returning home for a three-game stand to bring in the New Year.