“Entire regular season is about gamesmanship and trying to fool refs” - Steve Kerr livid with LeBron James and crew for flopping to win Game 4
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr called out the LA Lakers following the Warriors’ 104-101 Game 4 loss on Monday night. Kerr said that the Lakers were flopping to sell calls to the referees. After having some time to reflect on his initial comments, Kerr has now doubled down on his stance.
During an interview on Tuesday, Kerr spoke about the issue of flopping again, highlighting FIBA’s anti-flopping rule as a potential solution:
“I think, to me, what I’ve learned coaching in FIBA — FIBA has a great rule, there’s a flop rule, and if a referee deems that a player has flopped, they just call a technical foul and it’s pretty penalizing,” Kerr said.
“So, the flopping has basically been eliminated from FIBA. We have the ability to do the same thing in the NBA if we want.”
Kerr then spoke about how players flopping is affecting the quality of the regular season and playoffs:
“I think we should address it because the players are so smart and the entire regular season is about gamesmanship and trying to fool the refs, and this is how it’s been for a while,” Kerr said.
“It’s up to us as a league, do we want to fix this? Because if not, we’ll just get the Chris Paul swipe through at halfcourt when you’re in the bonus and for some reason, we’re shooting two free throws at a critical time of a playoff game when nothing has happened, nobody’s gained an advantage.
“So, my personal plea to the NBA (is) I think we can do better, in terms of cleaning up the flopping”.
Kerr then ended his comments with another shot at the Lakers:
“In the meantime, I give the Lakers credit for the plays that they’ve been able to sell,” Kerr said.
“I think we can be better, in terms of cleaning up the flopping. In the mean time, I give the Lakers credit for the plays that they’ve been able to sell.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr wants to see the NBA address and penalize flopping.
Thoughts? 🤔
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Steve Kerr on Warriors’ 3-1 deficit
Following the Warriors’ Game 4 loss to LA, they are now trailing 3-1 in their Western Conference semi-final series. Golden State has only come back from a 3-1 deficit once in franchise history.
That came during the 2016 Western Conference Finals against the OKC Thunder. Steve Kerr was asked about his team’s predicament in his postgame interview on Monday night. Kerr then gave a very blunt response before adding that the Warriors just need to get a win to regain momentum in the series:
“It feels like what it is: (a) 3-1 (deficit),” Kerr said.
“You go home, take care of business, get a win, and the momentum is right back in your favor. That’s all it is. ...The Lakers did a great job of holding serve here, so now we’ve got to go back and get a win at home and flip the momentum.”
Game 5 between the Lakers and Warriors will take place on Wednesday in San Francisco.
Also read: "May have to change Steve Kerr" - Skip Bayless suggests ousting Warriors head coach