JJ Redick blasted the lack of consistency in NBA officiating after the Lakers’ loss to Golden State, arguing that flopping standards vary from crew to crew and questioning why Brandin Podziemski’s theatrical reaction was not penalized despite similar contact leading to calls against Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick expressed frustration with the officiating after his team collapsed from a 25-point lead in Friday’s 112-95 loss to the Golden State Warriors in their NBA Cup opener.
Los Angeles committed 22 turnovers, which Golden State converted into 27 points, as the Warriors completely flipped the game after trailing 38-15 at the end of the first quarter.
Asked afterward about the Lakers’ turnover problems against Golden State’s increased pressure, Redick initially pointed to his own team’s mistakes before taking aim at the officiating.
“You can point to some offensive physicality things,” Redick said. “We had a couple of screens that were illegal. I’ll save my rant on the other people involved with the game for another time.”
Redick later expanded on one of his biggest concerns: a lack of consistency in how officials interpret flopping.
To reinforce his point, the Lakers coach referenced recent comments from Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch.
“Yeah, look, I tend to agree with what Chris said the other day,” Redick said. “We were all in Chicago, we all spoke about this, and we all recognize that the fans want the offensive players to stop flopping.”
Redick questions consistency of flopping calls
“I think all of our flopping fouls have been defensive,” Redick noted. “The reality for the officials is that each crew is so different, and what they interpret is so different. I think the consistency is the issue.”
He specifically highlighted a play involving Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski.
“The explanation I got for the Podziemski play was that there was contact,” Redick said. “But if you look at our flopping fouls that have been called defensively, there’s been contact.”
“Whether or not there’s contact is irrelevant. We’re looking for something theatrical and extra. But that’s not a foul, right? Throwing yourself back – I would assume that would be, I don’t know, kind of the definition of flopping.”
Redick also pointed to an offensive foul called against Ziaire Williams, arguing that contact alone could not explain the difference in how the plays were judged.
“Again, the explanation I got was that there was contact,” Redick added. “But again, there’s contact on a push-off. Ziaire moves his hands back, and they called it an offensive foul. So there was contact.”
“I guess the consistency is still something we’re searching for.”
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