Rick Carlisle is latest coach to call out NBA for Lakers free throw disparity

Often times, officiating is a subject of debate in the NBA.

On Sunday night, the Indiana Pacers fell victim to some bad officiating in their loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Los Angeles shot 27 more free throws than the Pacers and were also called for 17 fewer fouls, much to the dismay of Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle.

Carlisle even alluded to this in his postgame interview and discussed how it was difficult for the Pacers to overcome.

"There were certain things that were impossible to overcome," said Carlisle. "The 27 free throw differential is one and the 17 foul differential is the other. And I'll leave it at that."

Rick Carlisle becomes latest coach to call out free throw disparity

Carlisle managed to keep himself composed while answering the question, but he is far from the only coach to call out this issue.

Back in January, Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr were both very vocal about the free throw disparity and poor officiating.

"It's outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely B.S.," said Rajakovic after the Raptors loss on Jan. 10. "This is shame. Shame for the referees. Shame for the league to allow this. 23 free throws for them, and we got two free throws in the fourth quarter?"

On Jan. 28, the Lakers got a chance to shoot 43 free throws while the Warriors only shot 16, three of them of by Stephen Curry.

"I'm not going to comment on their 43 free throws to our 16," said a visibly frustrated Steve Kerr. "I'm not going to comment on Steph shooting three free throws in 43 minutes."

Last year, the Phoenix Suns ran into the same issue. In a 122-111 loss, the Suns only shot 20 free throws compared to 46 shot by the Lakers, and Monty Williams had a bone to pick with the officials.

"Where do you see a game with 46 free throws for one team? That's just not right," said Williams. "I don't care how you slice it. It's happening to us too much. Other teams are reaching, other teams are hitting, and we're not getting the same call, and I'm tired of it."

Clearly, this has been an issue over the past few seasons, and this season, it hasn't gotten any better for opposing teams playing against the Lakers. Sunday night was no exception, as the Pacers were barely edged out by the Lakers 150-145. It's definitely possible that had the calls gone the Pacers way, the outcome could have been much different.

But it was not to be, and the Pacers became the latest team to fall victim to poor officiating as they fell just short against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. Carlisle stayed composed, but was visibly frustrated with how things turned out for his team.