James questions NBA’s replay center after late-game shot ruled a 2-pointer

LeBron James thought he added to his legacy with another big shot on his 39th birthday. The NBA’s replay center had a different view, causing James to call out the league’s replay process.

James made what he believed was a game-tying 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining as the Los Angeles Lakers were playing on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the top team in the Western Conference.

“It’s obviously a 3,” James said. “My foot is behind the line. I mean, you can see the space between the front of my foot and the 3-point line. You can clearly see a white, the wood on the floor, there’s a space in between the front of my foot and the 3-point line. So, you know, Stevie Wonder can see that, champ.”

James, who spent the day in bed with a non-COVID-19 illness, scored 26 points, 10 in the fourth quarter. But it was his shot, and the subsequent replay, that caused his ire toward the league’s replay center.

“They said it was out of their hands,” James said of the explanation he got from officials. “The Secaucus, whatever, over there in the replay center or whatever, somebody over there eating a ham sandwich or somebody made the call.”

In a pool report after the game, official Tony Brothers said the review wasn’t conclusive enough to overturn the call on the floor.