G5 referee report: Randall tripped James and made a foul, which was a wrong judgment, the Timberwolves suffered a loss and still eliminated the Lakers

On May 2, the NBA officially released the referee report for the last two minutes of the Lakers vs Timberwolves G5. The report showed that there was only one wrong judgment in the last two minutes of the game. The wrong judgment was that the Lakers made a profit and the Timberwolves suffered a loss. Despite this, the wrong judgment did not change the result of the game, and the Timberwolves finally eliminated the Lakers 103-96.

The only misjudgment occurred when 37.5 seconds left before the end of the game. James fell while receiving the ball, and the referee on duty called Randall for a defensive foul on James, mistakenly thinking that Randall tripped James. The referee report pointed out that when receiving the ball, James was tripped by the foot of Lakers teammate Reeves and lost his balance. Randall did not make any foul moves against James. Therefore, this is a wrong judgment, the Timberwolves suffer losses, and the Lakers make a profit.

However, such a miscalculation did not change the situation of the game. When the wrong judgment occurred, the Lakers were already 8 points behind the Timberwolves and the situation was over. It's another disappointing season for James.

After the game, US media showed James' performance in the past three rounds of playoffs, with his team only 2 wins and 12 losses. In the previous two seasons, the Lakers were eliminated 4-0 and 4-1 by the Nuggets respectively, while this season the Lakers were eliminated 4-1 by the Timberwolves. After the game, when asked how the team will improve the roster next season, James said: "This is a business. You don't know what the roster will look like next season, except for those who have signed a contract. To be honest, I have a lot to consider myself. So I don't know what the roster will be like next season, and I don't know what I'm in now."

James currently has the player option to return to the Lakers for $52.6 million in 2025-26, and he must decide whether to execute the option before June 29, otherwise he will become a free agent.