LeBron James responds to Steve Kerr’s flopping complaints

Apr 4, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) reacts to being called for a foul against the Utah Jazz in the last minute of the fourth quarter at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr thinks the Los Angeles Lakers have made a concerted effort to flop during the Western Conference semifinals series between the two teams, and LeBron James was the latest to respond to those complaints on Wednesday night.

After the Warriors beat L.A. 121-106 in Game 5, LeBron was asked about the talk of “gamesmanship” and flopping from his team. He insisted it is not something the Lakers think about.

“I just know that we, our coaching staff and us players, don’t work on flopping,” James said. “It’s not even a part of our game. Our game is to attack the paint. We don’t mind physical contact. We actually like the contact. We don’t shy away from it. We’re just not a team that goes out there looking for flopping opportunities. That’s never been any team that I’ve played on in my 20 years.”

The Lakers won Game 4 of the series to take a 3-1 lead. After their 104-101 victory, Kerr complained that some of the plays the Warriors got whistled for fouls on were “flops” by the Lakers. Kerr also said the Lakers “understand how to generate some calls.” You can read his full remarks here.

Kerr strongly implied that the Lakers use flopping as a strategy. Darvin Ham also responded to the claim in a sideline interview during Game 5, and he shared similar thoughts to LeBron.

The Lakers now lead the series 3-2 with Game 6 at home on Friday night.