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Lakers' LeBron James Addresses His Opinion on Getting Foul Calls

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Reign Amurao | Last updated Mar 25, 2026 6:40 PM ET

LeBron James' free-throw attempts have slightly dipped since his second year with the Los Angeles Lakers. Before joining the ball club, James was one of the top stars who attempted close to 10 shots at the charity stripe. From his second season in the NBA until the 2017-18 campaign, the four-time champion averaged 8.3 free throw attempts.

That includes three separate seasons where he had at least 10 free throws. When he signed with the Lakers in 2018, his free-throw attempts were still close to his average, and he shot 7.6 per game. The following year, that changed, and he has shot 5.5 per game over the past seven seasons.

Most of it has something to do with his change of playstyle. James has made more 3-point attempts during the 2019–20 season, but he has scored fewer goals from within, where the majority of contact occurs. With fewer drives to the basket, it leads to fewer chances of him getting fouled to shoot free throws.

LeBron James' Honest Thoughts on Getting Foul Calls

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) warms upTroy Taormina-Imagn Images

On Tuesday's episode of his podcast, "Mind the Game," James welcomed his teammate Austin Reaves as a guest. At one point in the show, free throws became the topic, and the Lakers star did not hold back about his thoughts on not getting enough foul calls.

“[Expletive], I wish I could get some foul calls,” James said (video here; warning: viewer discretion advised). “[Expletive], It’d be nice to get some free throws.”

James also said that he usually gets the same two responses from officials whenever he asks why he wasn't called for the foul.

“It's over for me… I used to get calls, I don't get calls anymore. Every time [it 's] the same thing: The refs look at me like ‘We didn’t see it’ or ‘It was marginal’,’ he added.

Last season was a career-low for the Lakers star. He had the fewest free throw attempts in his career, and averaged 4.7 shots at the charity stripe on 78.2%. This season, James is third in attempts, falling behind stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

In the past, James was usually the player who's often fouled. The combination of his speed, size and strength makes it difficult to stop and even slow him down. This was often the reason why he was fouled. Additionally, he isn't the most reliable player at the line, making only 73.7% in his career.

However, James found other ways to remain an offensive threat for his teams.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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