LeBron James may not be a fan of the NBA’s new replay review.
With the Lakers leading the Pelicans 108-107 on Wednesday night with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was whistled for a questionable foul on New Orleans forward Brandon Ingram. Lakers coach Frank Vogel challenged the play, but James had no doubt what the officials would decide.
The Lakers star went up to Jeff Van Gundy mid-ESPN broadcast and alerted him that there was no way the referees would overturn the call, and it had nothing to do with whether or not a foul was actually committed.
“That’s a bad call,” James said, while clearly being heard on the game broadcast. “When the ref makes that call, he don’t never want to be wrong. They’re never going to overturn it. Ever. Ever.”
The call stood and Ingram made both free throws to put the Pelicans ahead again. The Lakers would rally for a 114-110 victory in Anthony Davis’ return to New Orleans and Los Angeles improved to an NBA-best 16-2.
“I don’t see the replays like they do, so I’ll have to trust them, but we’ll see,” Vogel said afterwards.
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