Crew chief offers take on Lakers-Celtics controversy

While the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics played in one of the best games of the season on Saturday night, the end of regulation is memorable for all of the wrong reasons. LeBron James was clearly fouled going for a game-winning layup, but no foul was called. Then, Patrick Beverley was assessed a technical foul at the start of overtime for bringing a camera onto the court to argue.

Following the game, Eric Lewis, the crew chief who assessed the technical foul on Beverley, spoke about the controversies. The Pool Report interview was conducted by Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe and shared by Marc J. Spears of ESPN.

Lewis said of Beverley that “His actions were inappropriate in addressing resentment to a no-call” and later clarified that bringing a camera onto the floor “was part of his inappropriate actions.”

The crew chief did acknowledge that James was fouled, though, saying “There was contact. At the time, during the game, we did not see a foul. The crew missed the play.”

Interesting pool report on final seconds of regulation of Lakers at Boston. pic.twitter.com/XhrRWobOv2

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) January 29, 2023

There are two ways of looking at this.

One, it’s good to hear a crew chief so quickly admit that a critical mistake was made. Lewis isn’t the first to do that, but it’s not exactly common either.

Two, for the Lakers and their fans, this is a whole lot of nothing. Lewis acknowledging won’t change the outcome of the game. And for a team fighting for a playoff spot, that’s a big problem.