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

LeBron James is a prisoner of his body. Referees take for granted the constant punishment because of his strength.

It all started on a Friday night in the Staples Center. The Lakers were welcoming former head coach, Luke Walton, back in the fold for the first time since last season’s ouster.

Then LeBron James did something that might have placed him squarely in the situation he is right now.

By the way, he was fouled on this play too. Ever since then, NBA fans, the media and his legions of fans say the same quotes over and over again.

This is a guy that is in his 17th year? 

The pep in this step is evident with that time off!

LeBron James is now an MVP candidate.

Now everyone has turned back the clock (Wrongfully!) to the days when he was in Cleveland back in 2018 or even his years in Miami when he was dominating the NBA with his sidekick, Dwyane Wade. At times this season, James has been dominant on the floor and it has been done with relative ease. Maybe the referees are taking that for granted.

The bottom line, LeBron hasn’t shown this much aggression since he was in the Eastern Conference playing Game 1 in the NBA Finals for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Last season, James was standing out on the left-wing firing up – point shots at a record rate, even then he was getting to the line more often than this season. By the time his season was close to being over, he wasn’t even taking the ball to the basket with any real force.

When Mario Hezonja stuffed the ball in his face in New York, it shows the difference of how aggressive James is taking the ball to the basket and why he deserves more calls.

In the NBA game, players are supposed to aggressive and put pressure on the defense to draw fouls. LeBron is doing that at a rate not seen in years.

According to what Danny Green stated to LA Times’ Tania Ganguli, James is not flopping.

"“He should [get] at least get eight to 10 free throws a game,” Danny Green said. “No doubt about it, how he attacks the rim, attacks the basket. It’s a physical game, and obviously he doesn’t flop. So it’s hard for refs to see and hard to referee him.”"

This is a very sore subject here. It is common knowledge that star players get star calls. LeBron with his play right now has put himself back at the top of the marquee. He ranks 15th in the NBA in free throw attempts per game.

Let’s talk about the NBA’s leader in free throws and many believe flops.