Monday, June 4th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  80 responses

LeBron James Unhappy With Fouling Out in Game 4 Loss


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

There was LeBron James, looking on helplessly from the bench as his team had a golden opportunity to push the Boston Celtics to the brink of elimination by taking a 3-1 series lead.

When Dwyane Wade’s last-second three rimmed out, James was visibly devastated, and now the Eastern Conference Finals are all knotted up at two games apiece.

In his postgame comments, LeBron disagreed completely with the call that had him ushered out of the contest. Pat Riley was also less than pleased with the calls in a more general sense.

Per the AP and Yahoo! Sports:

“I’d rather be on the floor,” James said. “I don’t foul out,” said James, whose sixth foul was an offensive foul underneath the Miami basket. “If I’m going to foul out, that sixth foul, I wish I would have earned it and it had actually been a foul on me. Whatever.”

“It’s a typical night in the Boston Garden,” Heat president Pat Riley said before exiting his team’s postgame locker room.

This was the first time since 2008 that LeBron James fouled out of a game, and the only time it has happened to him in the postseason.

The series now moves on to Miami for the all-important Game 5 on Tuesday night. Here’s to hoping all of the key players will be on the floor when it’s time to decide the outcome of that one.

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  • Jeff

    The referees are the easiest to be paid off in a game like this. Better check ref crawford’s tax returns versus the amount of assets he has and the goods and services he and his family receives.

    Boston Gardens have always been biased, they turn up the temperature, probably spike the air and water surrounding the visiting team’s locker, have one of their coaches sneak out and look at television to see what the 76′ers are planning long ago in the Doctor J days, come back and know exactly what play will be run, then they get this 6′ 1″ reserve guard in the 1986 NBA finals to harass, provoke, and get under the skin of Ralph Sampson and get him thrown out. So much more to say, but unless you are old like me and have seen it, the media will cover up and re write history.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    why does anyone watch the NBA if they think it’s fixed? and if you think it’s fixed, why complain about it? Unless you are surprised that it’s fixed? Which there is no actual evidence of…and being surprised about something that is a figment of your imagination is….well, sad.

  • http://jsflf.com Jukai

    Says the guy who thinks the draft is fixed.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Yes, LeBron gets crazy preferential treatment from the refs, and he should average more fouls than he does, but not to an insane degree. Remember, Wilt never fouled out of a game. The calls in this series (and WCF) have been consistent-ish, just not exactly in accordance with the rule book. And that was a 6th foul on LeBron. Watch his left elbow.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    I said the draft lottery (only the top pick or top two at most) often go to the most convenient team. Never said I thought it was fixed for sure.
    .
    nbk Posted: May.31 at 6:50 pm “Again, not saying I believe the draft lottery is rigged. But it is often convenient.”
    .
    Thanks though you big spoon full of sugar.

  • bike

    I wonder if there is any benefit at all, no matter how small, for a player to whine about a call to a ref. I mean, does a ref ever say to himself ‘holy crap, LeBron was really pissed at me over that call I made, I am going to cut him some slack on the next one…’ or does it just piss the ref off…’I'll show that overpaid m*therf*cker for mouthing off at me…’.

  • QCao1

    Time to shut up and grind the other team down. Attack, defend, defend, attack! Run them out of the gym. Come on, Chalmers & Cole, show us the next 2.0 Heat. Miller, Battier and Jones, take over the game already! Haslem, let’s show KG, PP and Rajon Heat hospitality in the paint.

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    One of the biggest reason why LeBron hasn’t fouled out in a long time is because he tends to stay away from picking up stupid/cheap fouls (ie..reaching, jumping to block jumpshots and biting on pump fakes).

  • lakernation

    F Lebron And Anybody That Love Em! LMAO…

  • the king

    @LAKERNATION U R A HATER!!!!!!!!

  • http://www.slamonline.com Zach Heugel

    Boston Celtics fan’s and there team are cry baby’s. I’m picking the Heat to win. Because Miami Heat is a better team than the Boston Celtics. Heat got a player from the first round draft pick from last years draft. Norris Col from the Cleveland State. He is a better basketball player.than Ray Allen. Bring it on Boston Cry baby’s.

  • BostonBaller

    KG held LBJ, LBJ did the same thing to a lesser degree to get his 6th. I do love the statement.. “I don’t foul out,”. I’m a C’s fan but I love the game and the calls have been inconsistent both ways. I think it’s funny when guys over act when they get tapped and LBJ & Wade have almost perfected it as well as a few Celtics players. My thing is the elbows LBJ throws and the stiff arms/hooks he delivers on drives. All NBA players whine but some are better at it. RR gets more..arrogant isn’t the word…he speaks his mind way too easily and it could come back to bite him & the team. The play when MP grabbed LBJ and nothing was called was crazy but the C’s did not gain an advantage so it wasn’t that horrible in the end. If LBj would have gone left in regulation like it was drawn up maybe there wouldn’t have been an OT or a fouling out. hhhmmm. I’m so random today..

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Did you guys hear Leroy Ellis died? Hahahahahaha. Funny stuff

  • http://hoopspeak.com/2012/05/enough-about-lebron-and-his-fouls/ nbk

    ^ not me

  • Kabraham15

    smh some of the comments i read here make me wonder if the writers of em even watch basketball, or understand anything about the game besides “put the ball in the basket”

  • coggie13

    Is it just me that thinks in overtime you should get an extra foul? If you have fouled out in regulation you do not get an extra foul. But I mean an extra 5 minutes of basketball should warrant at least one extra foul!

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    Who cares a 3 Time MVP, has had two opportunities to close and could not. Celtics in 6, like I predicted and LeChoke goes crying to his management team about the Heat move. BOOK IT!!

  • ai come back

    uhm the purpose of BASKETBALL at the end of the day is to PUT THE BALL IN THE BASKET WITHIN THE RULES OF THE GAME MORE TIMES THAN YOUR OPPONENT DOES just saying im not sure what you mean

  • http://www.twitter.com/_dfrance dfrance21

    @Kabraham15 Elaborate. I hate when ppl make comments about others bball knowledge, then proceed to add nothing to the conversation.

    @Bike Not so much the players, but when coaches complain and point things out to the refs I think it makes them look for things and watch their calls. KG has been setting those questionable screens for years, but when Doug Collins complained about it, they started calling him on it more.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    nbk at 6:55 is not the real nbk. Stop posting as me dumb@ss

  • Don

    The refs are messin wit the intergrity of the game bad valls on both sides ,at crucial moments its sad but now Lebron & the Heat kno wat to do !! #teamlebron

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    I’ve been around longer then for that to work. Dumbass. <—-see what I did there?

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    What the hell are you talking about fat@ss. See what I did there?

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    You can just type ass. Stupid ass.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Dude you type with yo ass. I respect that cause yo ass is so fat! Fatass

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Why do people think that imitating someone else is funny or purposeful? I swear, once school gets out, the idiocy rate here climbs like Eddy Curry reaching for a Twinkie.

  • Kidd-Kidd

    The Heat will win by over 9 tomorrow this league is too fixed every thing is either right on the spread or close to it

  • http://itsahardwoodlife.blogspot.com omphalos

    “I don’t foul out”… that statement is ridiculously arrogant, that last call was admittedly wrong, but for the first time in my life I saw Lebron get called for the same fouls as everyone else. He never used to foul out because they let him get away with bloody murder.

  • BostonBaller

    dfrance is right about the weight of complaints…a coach has a better chance of getting calls than a player after complaints. There are reasons behind that… KG & others ds get away with those “extra effort” screens but I’d rather see no call on that than the no calls on the obvious travels (3 & 4 steps) & using the off arm to clearly separate space on a drive. (offensive foul). I have mixed feelings about adding a foul to players in OT and/or giving players 7 fouls to use as a rule. I wouldn’t be mad if either of those went through.

  • BostonBaller

    I bet PP is not happy about fouling out in 2 games either. it happen, get over it. PP needs to stop with the faces after ever call and RR needs to calm his over active stupidity when he thinks he has been wronged. Refs need to let the men play and make the calls that lead up to fake fights. That is a hard job but they have to try.

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