Lakers players respond to Warriors' flopping allegations
The Lakers aren’t taking a dive on Steve Kerr’s complaints about how their second-round series has been officiated so far.
After Monday night’s Game 4, the Warriors coach told reporters that he didn’t like how the Lakers “took some flops and were rewarded.” The officials have been a hot topic this series given the free-throw disparity between the two teams, with Los Angeles doubling Golden State’s total 103-51 through four games.
The first response came from Lakers guard Dennis Schroder, who already had an on-court last laugh against the Warriors in Game 4.
Speaking with Adin Ross, Schroder blasted Kerr’s accusations of flopping by, well, admitting he engages in sales tactics. (Ross has a long history of hateful and offensive comments that are even worse than giving the Lakers a platform to work the referees.)
“Steve Kerr went on the media, and he said that they didn’t get no calls, we flopped all game, they didn’t get no free throws,” Schroder said. “But if you shoot 53 threes, how are you going to get to the free-throw line? I didn’t really feel that one, his comments on that and that we’re flopping and doing all those things. At the end of the day, if they’re setting the illegal screens, sometimes you gotta show them that they’re moving on the screen. If you don’t do it, they’re not going to call it.”
Another response from an anonymous Lakers player dismissed Kerr more pithily.
Chris Haynes shared on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” that “a prominent Lakers player” said via text, “Let them bleep and complain. It shows weakness and frustration. We can’t get caught up in that game. We just have to play and keep fighting.”
But just as the Lakers don’t want to “get caught up” in the officiating blame game, the Warriors can’t afford to either. The officials might not have helped things, but the 3-1 series hole the Dubs are in is mostly because of themselves. Pulling off the improbable comeback starts with Golden State playing well on the court, not going at the officials who share it with them. To quote Jordan Poole, “you can only control what you can control.”
Source: SFGATE
