After the Warriors were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, coach Steve Kerr told reporters at Crypto.com Arena there had been plenty of flops and gamesmanship by the opposing team, and he'd like to see the game film.
Well, Kerr has watched the tape, and he's standing by his statement -- with an additional request for an NBA rule change mirroring that of the International Basketball Federation.
"I think, to me, what I’ve learned coaching in FIBA ... There’s a flop rule," Kerr told reporters Tuesday. "If a referee deems a player has flopped, they just call it a technical foul, and it’s pretty penalizing. And so the flopping has basically been eliminated from FIBA, and we have the ability to do the same thing in the NBA if we want.
"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, and it’s up to us as a league. Do we want to fix this? ... These are all things that are my personal plea to the NBA. 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."
The free-throw discrepancy between the Warriors and Lakers has been a talking point all series, with Los Angeles going to the charity stripe more than twice as often as Golden State. Through four games, the Lakers have attempted 103 free throws compared to the Warriors' 51, and it's clear Kerr believes at least some of those have come via flop for Los Angeles.
"There was definitely some gamesmanship, and, look, I give them credit," Kerr said Tuesday. "If you can sell a call in this league and do it, then you do it -- whatever it takes to win. ...
"Like I said, you give them credit, but you lament the fact that, as a league, we’re going to reward that type of play with -- the game and the series and all that stuff’s at stake, you would hope that officials would recognize when a guy just takes a dive."
It remains to be seen whether or not the NBA takes Kerr's plea into consideration, but the coach certainly believes a rule similar to FIBA's would make the league a better place.
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And with a pivotal Game 5 set for Wednesday at Chase Center, the Warriors can assume they'll face plenty of gamesmanship as they look to overcome a three-games-to-one deficit against the Lakers.
