LeBron James: Have the referees turned a blind eye to foul calls?

Lake Show Life takes a look at why Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is more aggressive in the paint but gets to the line less.

LeBron James is making history seemingly almost every game this season. Whether it be scoring or assists. Now foul shooting has come into question. Not his percentages, but the amount of free throws he takes during games.

Something funny happened to the Los Angeles Lakers Saturday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. Did they start slowly coming out of the gate? Sure. They always start slow it seems. Memphis was killing the Lakers the first time around before Anthony Davis went nuts from the free throw line.

Is the defense a problem? Sure. But that was to be expected with Avery Bradley out of the lineup and Rajon Rondo playing a turnstile role on defense.

Despite the Memphis Grizzlies being unconscious from the 3-point line (Now that was strange!) and Ja Morant basically wrapping up the Rookie of the Year award, LeBron James and Anthony Davis showed again why they are superstars on the best team in the NBA.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1198447536568094721

There was no reason why the Lakers barely escaped with a 109-108 win, no matter how well Morant played. First Anthony Davis drops a huge 3-point shot to tie the game at 105. Then the subplot thickens.

LeBron blows by Jaren Jackson Jr. for the lay-up and never sees the paint again, shooting two long 3-point shots. As you can see in the video, AD bails him out with the putback lay-up.

FS-1’s, Skip Bayless really let LeBron have it on Twitter.

Here’s where the story begins. James led everybody with 30 points on 14-of-27 shooting. But the problem is he never went to the free throw line. The 27 field goal attempts without attempting a single free throw mark the most shots he’s ever taken without earning a trip to the line. Sure a third of his shots were from distance, but the Lakers and LeBron showed their frustrations over the lack of whistles.

LeBron James stated after the game that the lack of calls has been evident over the last couple of games according to ESPN.

"“I’m living in the paint and if you look at my arm right here, these are four or five [scratches] that happened the last two games, and they weren’t called at all,” said James."

Lakers’ head coach, Frank Vogel seems to have other ideas on how to deal with the situation.

"“It’s frustrating,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “LeBron’s going to the basket all night long. He took nine 3s, but he’s in the paint all night long. … When your guy’s attacking the basket the way he is and getting zero free throw attempts, it’s something that can be frustrating.” “We’ll deal with the proper channels and talk to the league about that,”"

Lakers fans, you have just been provided a lesson on how to avoid being fined by the NBA after your backup point guard (Rajon Rondo) gets in trouble and goes on record having no remorse. But the Lakers have a legitimate gripe here. LeBron is not getting the calls he received in the past.

After averaging 8.1 free throws per game throughout his current 17th season, James is averaging a career-low  5.6 free throws per game average this season. What’s even more remarkable is the fact that the Memphis game was just the 14th time in 1,214 career games that he didn’t take a free throw.

What gives here? Lake Show Life is here to save LeBron James and Frank Vogel some pocket change for criticizing the officiating and take a deep look at all aspects of the lack of calls, then look at why LeBron may not be getting the calls while comparing him to current and past superstars.