NBA Needs to Fix Replay Review After Ridiculous Out of Bounds Call on LeBron James

Christmas Day's showdown between the Lakers and Clippers lived up to its billing. It featured a thrilling comeback that ultimately saw LeBron James with the rock in his hands with a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds. What more could fans want?

Unfortunately, what happened thereafter was an utter farce.

Patrick Beverley blocked The King's game-tying three-point attempt, and the referees subsequently went to replay for what seemed like an eternity to determine who last touched the basketball.

It was one of the most tedious replays we've ever seen in the NBA, as the refs literally went to a frame-by-frame review. The elementary understanding here is that Beverley forced the ball out of bounds and obviously didn't intend for it to SLIGHTLY ricochet off LeBron's fingertips on its way out.

The Lakers should have retained possession with another shot to tie the game. Instead, they were forced to foul. Paul George hit a few free throws, and BOOM, the Clips walk away unscathed.

Make no bones about it, folks. This madness proves that the Association must implement some sort of change to their review protocol.

Congratulations, NBA. You deprived a great game between two of the game's biggest powerhouses of a potentially great ending because you wanted to be as technical as humanly possible.

Their ruling in no way supports the spirit of the rule despite being ultimately "accurate." Change is needed given how long these reviews are taking.

We don't even want to imagine the uproar if this sort of maddening narrative were to pop back up during the playoffs.