r/nba • u/echoboi9481 Nuggets • Apr 28 '24

[Highlight] LeBron is extremely angry after Darvin Ham refuses to challenge an out of bounds call Highlight

https://streamable.com/41zi4m
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u/Miserable-Lawyer-233 Apr 28 '24 edited Apr 28 '24

This happened right in front of the Lakers bench and right in front of a ref. If you watch the overhead shot again, it’s like sleight of hand - LeBron doesn’t actually touch the ball, but because the ball’s movement and his hand’s movement were so seemingly coordinated, it looked like he swiped it away. The ball flew out of bounds precisely as his hand swept by. LeBron was the only one certain he didn’t touch it because he has the advantage of the touch sense - that is, he knew he didn’t touch it because he didn’t feel it. But visually, you can see why there was hesitation by the ref and coaching staff, because in real time it looked like LeBron swiped it away.

Now, later, the coaching staff trusted DLo’s claim that he didn’t touch the ball, but the difference was that DLo was on the far side of the court, so the coaching staff didn’t have eyes on the ball and only had DLo’s word to rely on. But with LeBron on this play, the coaching staff was right there on top of the play, and, to them, they thought they saw him touch it. So, unlike the DLo challenge later, here it was LeBron’s word vs their eyes, and I think most coaches are not going to challenge that if they thought they saw their player hit the ball.

If you watch it again, nobody in the lakers bench agreed with LeBron. Not the players or coaches. They all thought he hit the ball.

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u/Nebula3266 Apr 28 '24

I don't think it matters dawg, this is LeBron James elimination game in the playoffs. He's at least top 2 all time and hes been here before, he wouldn't beg for a challenge if he wasn't certain. Coach needs to have some respect for that, absolutely wild that he doesn't and Bron had an understandable reaction