"Complete crap": Raptors coach Rajakovic rips refs after loss to Lakers

If anyone ever doubted Darko Rajakovic’s passion for his job, the Toronto Raptors head coach put those thoughts to bed last night.

Toronto fell 132-131 to the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that was mostly close throughout, even if it took a fruitless last-second three-pointer to bring the game back within one.

The real story, however, was the free throw discrepancy on the evening: the hometown Lakers were awarded 36 free throws on the evening, making 28, while Toronto was awarded just 13, making eight.

The difference was particularly stark in the fourth quarter, where Los Angeles awarded 23 free throws, compared to just two for the Raptors.

Rajakovic called out the divide between the calls in his postgame press conference.

“It’s outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely BS,” Rajakovic said. “This is a shame — shame for the referees; shame for the league to allow this. Twenty-three free throws for them, and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter? Like, how to play the game? I understand respect for All-Stars and all that, but we have star players on our team as well.”

Rajakovic particularly drew attention to his forward Scottie Barnes, who picked up 26 points despite only being awarded two free throws on the evening.

“[The Lakers] had to win tonight? If that’s the case, just let us know so we don’t show up for the game,” Rajakovic said. “Just give them a win. But that was not fair tonight. And this is not happening first time for us. Scottie Barnes is going to be [an] All-Star. He’s going to be the face of this league, and what’s happening over here during the whole season… it’s complete crap.”

Interestingly, one of the refs involved on the evening was Ben Taylor, the same referee directly called “f*cking terrible” by former Toronto point guard Fred VanVleet after losing to the Los Angeles Clippers last season.

Rajakovic’s full press conference is available below:

The Raptors return to action tonight when they take on the Clippers at 7:30 pm PT/10:30 pm ET.

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