Lakers' Austin Reaves unloads on official for being 'disrespectful' during Thunder game

The Los Angeles Lakers dropped Game 1 of their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier in the week. They felt as if they had every opportunity to win.

A big part of the struggle was that Austin Reaves did not have a good shooting night. In fact, it was one of his worst performances of the year.

“But, after shooting just 3-for-16 and coughing up a team-high four turnovers as the Los Angeles Lakers dropped Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals to the defending champs, Reaves admitted that context is meaningless at this point of the postseason,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin wrote.

If the Lakers had any chance of winning Game 2, they could not solely rely on LeBron James. They needed Reaves to step up.

“The Lakers' dilemma surrounding LeBron James is exactly that -- the players surrounding LeBron, not James himself. As has been a recurring narrative throughout James' career -- for whatever reason -- LeBron doesn't have enough help right now, and there's no solution in sight. Unless Reaves can magically reclaim midseason form over the course of the next couple of games, this might be a short series,” Lake Show Life’s Colin Keane wrote.

Reaves answered the call, scoring 31 points in the second game of the series. However, he has gone viral for an interaction with an official. After the game, he made it clear that he felt disrespected.

“When we were doing the whole tip ball and they were switching spots, I wanted to get on the other side because they had a guy on the other side, was just trying to keep an advantage. And he turned around and yelled in my face. I just thought it was disrespectful. The whole time that was going on over there, I don't think he said much to them. I know Ben (Taylor) stepped in and said something. But at the end of the day, we're grown men and 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 if I did that to him first, I would've gotten a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn't get a tech was because he knew he was in the wrong. I felt disrespected,” Reaves told the media.

The officiating was a bit questionable throughout the game, which can often happen in intense playoff matchups. However, Reaves has every right to be upset with how the officials approached him during that moment.

The Lakers will now return to Los Angeles, where they must find a way to take control of the series. Reaves will need to build off his strong offensive performance despite the frustration surrounding the officiating.

More NBA news: