Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 4, a big talking point was the idea that they were being rewarded for flopping after a couple of illegal screen calls went their way. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr spoke on this and many Lakers have responded, and now star LeBron James has done the same.
After the Lakers’ loss in Game 5, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham made it clear that the Lakers don’t teach flopping and that they want to play a physical game with a lot of contact. Lakers superstar LeBron James re-iterated that same point.
“I just know that our coaching staff and us players, we don’t work on flopping,” LeBron said after the game. “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. We don’t shy away from it.
“We’re just not a team that goes out there looking for flopping opportunities. That’s just not us. It’s actually never been any team that I’ve played on in my 20 years where we’ve been a flopping team. It is what it is. They have their right to say what they want to say, but the game is always won between the four lines, and we’ve got to be better on Friday for sure.”
Perhaps Kerr’s words were in the minds of the officials in Game 5 as the Lakers had just 15 free throw attempts, their lowest total of the series. The free throw line has been a huge positive for the Lakers all year long as they led the NBA in free throw attempts during the regular season.
The Lakers aren’t the best 3-point shooting team and while they are good when getting stops and getting out in transition, their half-court offense hasn’t always been great either. But they have size across the board and the best way to utilize that is to attack and get to the line. LeBron, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and the rest of the team understand this and will continue to look for contact regardless of what the Warriors have to say.
Lakers LeBron James named to All-NBA Third Team
Prior to the Lakers taking the court for Game 5, James received yet another accolade in his illustrious career. LeBron was named to the All-NBA Third Team for the third time in his career, extending his unreal record to 19 straight All-NBA selections.
For his career, James has now been named to the All-NBA First Team 13 times and the Second Team three times in addition to his three Third Team selections. Anthony Davis, meanwhile, missed the cut to Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis.
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