The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a loss against the struggling Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.
Following a 103-88 defeat, many members of the Lakers had the same message to send. They want consistency from the referees on a daily basis.
Clearly, head coach JJ Redick’s sentiment was heard in the locker room as each referee-related quote echoed the same sentiment.
“Overall, the consistency is something that I’m going to talk with Byron about tomorrow; the consistency needs to be addressed,” JJ Redick told reporters on Saturday.
“That needs to be addressed, and it will be. Any coach and player, what we ask for is consistency. That’s not to single any official out or any crew out, it’s not about that. We need to know what it is night to night.”
LeBron James felt the same way, but the veteran superstar seems to be leaving the conversations in the hands of his coaches and organization.
“There isn’t any consistency, but it is what it is,” said James. “I don’t know.”
“This is where I get frustrated a bit, and I keep asking the league to please reach out to me and respond to me every time I do the coaches' feedback thing. I don’t get any response from the league. Nobody ever reaches out to me," Redick added.
Redick’s primary focus was on the NBA’s challenge process, although technical fouls have been brought up by the inquiring reporter as well.
Speaking of technical fouls, the outspoken veteran Marcus Smart dished out his thoughts just hours after landing a hefty fine from the league for his “obscene gesture” in a recent matchup against the Utah Jazz.
“We just expect consistency,” Smart told reporters on Saturday.
“You can’t talk to them. It’s funny because even in the Utah game, I went up at the beginning of the game to be captain. The captain should be able to come talk to them, and they still don’t want to hear it. Hopefully, they can get it together, but it’s definitely something that, as a whole, as players, we are frustrated with it.”
The Lakers are hopeful that Redick’s urgency to have better dialogue with the league’s officials will help them going forward. The team will get two nights off before returning to the court on Tuesday night to face the Phoenix Suns.