That’s one theatric way to prove a point.
LeBron James and the Lakers were so fed up with the officiating Thursday night against the Rockets that they resorted to defending a few possessions with their hands behind their back.
“Just trying to defend without fouling,” James said, per ESPN. “That’s a point of emphasis any time you play Houston. They got guys that can sell calls really good — Chris [Paul] and James [Harden] — so you got to try to keep your hands out of the cookie jar.”
The Rockets won 126-111, with Harden going 18-of-19 from the free-throw line.
James went to the hands-behind-the-back act in the third quarter while defending Paul, who got to the basket but missed a layup.
Lonzo Ball followed James’ lead, frustrated about a pair of fouls called on teammate Josh Hart while defending Harden beyond the arc.
“You can’t touch them,” Ball said. “I was just trying not to foul today. They were calling it tight today, so I was just trying to get my hands out of there. … It’s very tough staying in front of [Harden] with your hands like that.”
Lakers coach Luke Walton said his team lost its composure as he and Kyle Kuzma were both called for technical fouls.
“How hard is it to play defense like that? It’s tough,” Walton said of players putting their hands behind their back. “I think they were just trying to make a point: ‘We’re not using our arms here. Stop calling fouls.’ But we can’t, whether we get frustrated or not, we can’t let that affect us going under screens or us not communicating … which I thought we could’ve done a better job of tonight.”
On the broadcast of the game, TNT analyst Chris Webber defended the Lakers and said the referees were calling non-fouls. The official NBA referees’ Twitter account took exception to the former player’s opinion.
“Why is it hard to educate fans about the rules? Here’s what we’re up against,” the account tweeted with a pair of clips showing fouls that Webber disagreed with. “These are obvious fouls, and fans deserve accurate analysis.”
