Steve Kerr takes a jab at Chris Paul when talking about flopping / News - Basketnews.com

Steve Kerr thinks that the foul on Draymond Green was a blatant flop by Lonnie Walker IV. The coach says the NBA should implement a FIBA flopping rule, and later takes a not-so-subtle jab at Chris Paul for his famous swipe-through move.

Credit: YouTube/Golden State Warriors; AFP - Scanpix Credit YouTube/Golden State Warriors; AFP - Scanpix

The Golden State Warriors are down 1-3 in the NBA Playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers. What happened in Game 4, made rounds on social media, some of it, though, not for a good reason.

Chris Paul

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Draymond Green got called for an offensive foul in the fourth quarter when Lonnie Walker IV was trying to get through the Warriors forward's screen. When the play was over, multiple people accused the Lakers guard of flopping.

Talking before Game 5, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had the same opinion.

"There was definitely some gamesmanship. I give them credit. If you can sell a call in this league and do it, then you do whatever it takes to win. The foul at 3:25 or so, the pindown, was really a tough call for us. It's a blatant flop," the coach told the media.

"He just takes a dive and the ref bought it. Like I said, you give him credit but you lament the fact that as a league we're gonna reward that type of a play," Kerr said. "With the game and the series, all that stuff at stake, you'd hope the officials would just recognize when a guy takes a dive."

Kerr has been an assistant coach in the US national team for multiple years. He will be leading the squad in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Looking back at his international experience, he thinks there's a thing or two the NBA could learn.

"What I've learned coaching in FIBA, they have a flop rule. If a referee deems that a player has flopped, they just call a technical foul, and it's pretty penalizing. The flopping has basically been eliminated from FIBA," he said. "We have the ability to do the same thing in the NBA if we want. I think we should address it."

"The players are so smart. The entire regular season is about gamesmanship and trying to fool the refs, and this is how it's been for a while. This is up to us as a league. Do we want to fix this? If not, we'll just get the Chris Paul swipe-through at halfcourt when you're in the bonus," Kerr mentioned the Phoenix Suns star guard.

Chris Paul is renowned for his swipe-through move that oftentimes causes the defenders to perform actions that the referees deem to be a foul.

"For some reason, we're shooting two free throws at a critical time in a game when nothing has happened, when no one has gained an advantage. 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 Lakers the credit they've been able to sell," Kerr concluded.

Full Steve Kerr pre-game press conference:

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