The Los Angeles Lakers‘ Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets is one for the books, and the verdict remains the same. However, the game, like the handfuls of their last 10 losses against Denver, comes with its share of controversies. The latest one comes ignited right through LeBron James, bringing back the memories of D’Angelo Russell‘s ejection from the previous season’s playoff series.

While Russell did not exit the game this time around, James’ remark comes through the officiating against his Lakers. In an example, James cited the late third-quarter glimpse, where Michael Porter Jr. hit Russell’s face during his floater. MPJ was called for a foul, but it was retracted after the Nuggets challenged the call. In light of the same, James said, “I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest. What f— do we have a replay center for? It makes no sense to me…It’s f—ing stupid”.

Moreover, James bought in the ongoing New York Knicks vs Philadelphia 76ers series in his bold statement. “And then I just saw what happened with the Sixers-Knicks game too. Like, what are we doing?”, he added. Fans believe that Tyrese Maxey was fouled at a crucial inbound play, which the Knicks stole for a quick three. Moreover, head coach Nick Nurse believes that he called for a timeout before the play occurred.

It is not the first time James questioned the authenticity of the replay center. Near New Year’s Eve, he questioned the overturn of one of his three-pointers.  “You can clearly see a white, wood on the floor. There’s a space in between the front of my foot and the three-point line,” he said.

Darvin Ham backs up LeBron James’ officiating comment

Darvin Ham did not boldly assert his mind, but positioned his remarks with a laid-back approach. “Some tough calls. Some tough non-calls. But you can’t use any of that as an excuse“, he said, hinting at moving forward with the night’s final score.

However, he then brought in a bigger problem to light – a change in standards of officiating than what was noticed during the season. He said, “It’s getting real tricky — you go through the season, games being officiated one way, and then you get to the playoffs. And I guess it’s left up to the interpretation of the three individual guys that’s doing the job out there,” highlighting the need for evenness.

The Lakers, at several points in the season, have blamed the officials for a lackluster and nightly approach. Ham sent over a montage of missed calls to the NBA after a November loss to the Miami Heat. However, the NBA claimed that there were no missed calls in their 2-minute report. With that, James took to X, citing that the result of a game depends largely outside the final 2 minutes.

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With that, the Lakers could also opt to file a grievance report against league officials, just like the 76ers are planning to do after their recent loss. However, whatever the result may be, the Lakers will still be down 0-2 in the series, with their season in danger more than ever.