Lakers Broadcasters Lead NBA Community to Call Out Grizzlies Star’s Unethical Act After LeBron James’ Protest Against Refs’ Decision

Lakers vs Grizzlies: With both teams entering the game with the same win-loss record, the winner would take that fourth spot in the West standings, at least for now. As expected, there was a sense of desperation and urgency among players, which eventually led to a controversial act by Grizzlies star Jaren Jackson Jr. Neither the Lakers’ broadcasters nor the hoop community let it slide. You see, during the closing seconds of the third quarter, Gabe Vincent faked out a Grizzlies player and got an open shot attempt at the corner. As any great defender would, Jackson rushed to close in on Vincent to make his shot difficult. However, the former DPOY fell to the floor midway after a seemingly mild push from LeBron James.

The official saw the contact and called an offensive foul on LeBron. Shocked by the decision, the four-time champ immediately protested and signaled his coaching staff to review the call. They obliged.

Upon review, it was clear that LeBron barely touched Jackson, and his fall was rather exaggerated. Even the Lakers broadcasters called him out on Live TV, “This is more of an acting job by Jaren Jackson Jr. than anything. I know LeBron is very strong, but that’s a bit much.”

Meanwhile, the officials thought the same and overturned their original call. Instead, they penalized JJJ with a flopping technical foul, deeming his reaction “theatrical.” Here’s the thing, though. It is quite rare to see immediate technicals for flopping. In fact, the very first in-game technical for flopping happened less than two years ago after Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jaden Shackelford was penalized in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

But coming back to Jaren Jackson Jr., it seemed like an ironic incident, considering LeBron James is known for having an extensive history of flopping. This takes us back to 2018 when he attempted a flop in Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers. The player took over the game for the Cleveland Cavaliers and scored 45 points, but his flop remained the highlight.

However, Jaren’s unethical antics cost his team big time as Austin Reaves drained the resulting free throw from the technical foul and extended the Lakers’ lead to five points. Moreover, Jackson garnered massive criticism from the hoop community. What did fans say?

Calls mount against Jaren Jackson Jr. for flop while NBA refs receive rare praise for making a “good call”!

The preseason and beginning of the regular season in 2023-24 witnessed a higher frequency of such calls, which unfortunately faded as the season progressed. As per Spotrac’s fines and suspensions database for the NBA, eight flopping fines were recorded in the first week of 2023-24. That number increased to 22 in the first half of the season. However, after Feb. 1, it decreased to only four.

And what about the 2024-25 season? The flopping fines decreased to just six (Zach Collins, Jalen Suggs, Ziaire Williams, Josh Hart, Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Poole). So soon after the replay of Jaren’s antics went viral, socials were flooded with comments like “That’s an egregious flop by Jaren Jackson Jr. overturn that call and give him a flopping tech like let’s be serious bro” and “That was a disgusting flop by Jaren Jackson Jr.” Well, flopping has become a major issue in the NBA as many players use this tactic to bend the rules and get foul calls.

The NBA’s aim was to get the most glaring acting out of the game and so they have a very specific definition for a flop, which is worthy of a technical foul. The criteria is called ‘STEM’ and it stands for secondary, theatrical, exaggerated movements.

Monty McCutchen, the league’s senior vice president (and head of development and training for referee operations had said much earlier that: “Some of the indicators of that are: Are there multiple rollovers? Is there a large distance covered that is not equitable to the contact? Is the reaction consistent with the amount of contact that was taken? If those things are not met, then secondary, theatrical and exaggerated movements should be penalized with a flopping violation.”

But after seeing Jackson’s bad decision-making, many fans were left unhappy. “My favorite thing about watching any Grizzlies game is seeing how quickly Jaren Jackson Jr. picks up his fouls.” Although Jackson is an elite defender, he constantly gets into foul trouble. Obviously, it hurts his team during close games as it did tonight.

Well, JJJ has been incredible this season, averaging 22.4 points and nearly six rebounds. Even tonight, he dropped 24 points. But the big man needs to figure out a way to stay away from foul trouble because his performance will not matter much if it can’t help his team win games. Amid the criticism for Jackson, fans even praised NBA officials, “Finally the refs actually made a good call!”

“Should be call for a flop that crazy,” wrote another fan. Referees constantly get criticized by fans for handing out unnecessary techs or calling Ticky-tack fouls. But they received rare praise tonight after eventually making the right call by overturning the foul on LeBron James and penalizing JJJ for his antics. What do you think?

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