Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is denying Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr’s insinuation that the Lakers have been flopping during their second-round playoff series.
Kerr spoke about flopping and said the NBA “should address it.” He added Los Angeles has been part of the larger trend.
“These are all things that are my personal plea to the NBA,” he told reporters. “I think we can do better in terms of cleaning up the flopping. In the meantime, I give the Lakers credit for the plays that they’ve been able to sell.”
Following the Lakers’ 121-106 road loss to Golden State in Game 5 of the series Wednesday, James insisted that the team doesn’t seek out chances to flop:
Golden State Warriors forward JaMychal Green thought that was a complete lie as he called out LeBron James after the Los Angeles Lakers star denied he and his teammates were “looking for flopping opportunities” in the Western Conference semifinals.
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Green posted a picture of LeBron with a cap on his head, which is slang for lying.
Whether the Lakers had been flopping or not, Kerr’s appeal to the league may have worked, as both teams shot 15 free throws in Game 5.
In Game 4, the Lakers made all 20 of their free-throw attempts in their 104-101 win.
Game 5 would mark the first time in the series that L.A. did not have the free-throw advantage, which is something that has played a big role in the results thus far.
A big part of the difference in free throws is that the Lakers like to operate inside with James and Anthony Davis, while the Warriors are more of an outside-shooting team with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson chucking up threes.
Now, the series heads back to Los Angeles for Game 6, and the Lakers will have another chance to close out the defending NBA champions on Friday.
