LeBron James and Darvin Ham deny that the Los Angeles Lakers teach players to flop
In the 2023 NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors were locked in a heated second-round matchup. During Game 5, Warriors coach Steve Kerr accused the Lakers of “gamesmanship” and “flopping” to draw fouls. These comments sparked a debate about whether or not the Lakers actually encouraged their players to flop.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham quickly responded to Kerr’s accusations, stating that the team does not teach flopping. “We play a physical brand of basketball,” Ham said. “We don’t teach flopping, we don’t teach head snaps.”
LeBron James, the Lakers’ star player, also denied the flopping allegations. “I just know that we, our coaching staff and us players, we don’t work on flopping,” James said. “That’s not even a part of our game. Our game is to attack, attack the paint. We don’t mind physical contact. We actually like the contact, and we don’t shy away from it, so we’re just not a team that goes out there looking for flopping opportunities.”
Despite James and Ham’s denials, some people still believe that the Lakers do flop. There have been several instances this season where Lakers players have appeared to exaggerate contact in order to draw fouls. For example, in Game 5 against the Warriors, Austin Reaves fell to the ground after making contact with Draymond Green. The play was widely criticized as being a flop, and it even drew a sarcastic comment from Warriors forward JaMychal Green, who posted a picture of James wearing a “cap” emoji to his Instagram story.
Whether or not the Lakers actually teach flopping is a matter of debate. However, there is no doubt that some Lakers players have been known to flop at times. This could be due to a number of factors, such as the team’s physical style of play or the pressure to win games.
Regardless of the reason, flopping is a negative aspect of the game that can take away from the competition. If the Lakers truly want to be a respected team, they need to make sure that their players are not flopping.