There will always be conspiracy theorists who watch NBA games and believe certain teams or players are favored by officials. Most of the time, there isn’t much to the claims.
But for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, the evidence is starting to stack up against them. And it certainly seems suspicious, to say the least.
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Lakers’ stunning free throw edge over rest of NBA
A specific stat made the rounds on social media on Monday, showcasing the insane edge the Lakers have gotten at the free throw line since the start of the 2022-2023 season.
It’s very tough to defend the massive chasm between the Lakers’ net free throws advantage and the rest of the league. The top three teams after the Lakers combined don’t even reach Los Angeles.
Some fans tried to argue that the Lakers take a lot of shots in the paint and score a lot near the rim, meaning they push the ball a lot, which would lead to more free throw attempts. But the Indiana Pacers, who lead the league in paint points, are the second-lowest team on the list.
It’s unlikely anything will change going forward, especially since this has been going like this for a while already. The Lakers are a huge market team and James is the face of the NBA. It behooves them for both to succeed.
