Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick was furious with the officiating of their Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, saying LeBron James was repeatedly denied clear fouls.

The Lakers are up against it in their Western Conference semifinal series after a 125-107 Game 2 defeat to the reigning NBA champions on Thursday.

Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each scored 22 points for the Thunder, with Ajay Mitchell adding 20 and Jaren McCain tacking on 18 as they improved to 6-0 in the playoffs.

For the Lakers, Austin Reaves had 31 points and James added 23, with the former called for a technical in the first quarter after yelling at referee Ben Taylor. 

And after the game, Redick echoed Reaves' belief that the Thunder got away with multiple fouls – particularly against James – throughout the contest. 

"LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I've ever seen," Redick said. "I've been with him two years now. 

"The smaller guys, because they can be theatrical, they typically draw more fouls, and the bigger players that are built like LeBron, it's hard for them. 

"He gets clobbered. He got clobbered again tonight, a bunch. That's not a new thing. That's not specific to this crew or this series. 

"He gets fouled a lot, and it doesn't [get called]. The guy gets hit on the head more than any player I've seen on drives, and it rarely gets called."

Final pic.twitter.com/NqFndR5CFn

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) May 8, 2026

James also expressed his frustration towards the officials at several points, while Reaves shouted at crew chief John Goble in the fourth quarter but avoided a technical on that occasion. 

"I felt like I was respectful to all of them all night. I mean, there's a million times in the past I've said way worse stuff," Reaves said of that incident.  

"And when we were doing the whole jump ball when [the Thunder players] were switching spots, I wanted to get on the other side. I was just trying to keep an advantage. 

"And [Goble] turned around and just yelled in my face. I just thought it was disrespectful. At the end of the day, we're grown men. 

"I just didn't feel like he needed to yell in my face like that. I told him that. I wasn't disrespectful. I told him that if I did that to him first, I would have got a tech. 

"I feel like the only reason I didn't get a tech is because he knew he was in the wrong. So, yeah, I just felt disrespected."

The Lakers now have back-to-back home games on Saturday and Monday, needing to register at least one victory to keep their season alive.