Getty Image / Thearon W Henderson
Last night, the Golden State Warriors claimed a 121-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers to send their series back to LA for Game 6.
Despite the big win, the Warriors still seemingly had one big complaint about something they’ve noticed the Lakers doing during the series.
Head coach Steve Kerr revealed that he believes the Lakers have been flopping in their recent games.
The Lakers have denied the accusation, with both head coach Darvin Ham and star LeBron James claiming it to be untrue.
After the game last night, LeBron said, “We don’t work on flopping. We’re just not a team that goes out there and look for flopping opportunities. It’s just not us. It’s never been.”
Today, a player from the Warriors responded to LeBron’s comments about the Lakers’ alleged flopping.
Warriors forward JaMychal Green took to Instagram to say that this statement from LeBron is cap.
JaMychal Green calls 🧢 on LeBron https://t.co/8rJSfLv5uS pic.twitter.com/k4nMoKITh6
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) May 11, 2023
It’s easy to see why the Warriors would be frustrated with the way the Lakers have been officiated in this series. They have attempted a ton more free throws than the Warriors through the first 5 games.
However, that is largely due to the fact that the Warriors are a team that attempt a lot of 3s.
Regardless of what you think about any potential flopping from the Lakers in this series, it is pretty difficult to believe LeBron when he says they’ve never been a team that is about that.
There are literally highlight reels on the internet devoted to LeBron James’ history of flopping.
Still, whether he’s right or wrong doesn’t matter. The refs are going to call things however they’re going to call them.
The Warriors will just need to hope they can minimize the free throw difference in Game 6 if they are going to have a chance to get the series back to the Chase Center.