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By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
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Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made his thoughts crystal clear about flopping in the NBA, sending a blunt message to the league about cutting down on calls that reward players who flop.
On Wednesday night, Kerr's Warriors defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 119-114. Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch called out the officiating when it comes to flopping, not related to the loss to the Warriors, but suggested that "the league has its own definition of what a flop is."
"All these flops they're calling on the defense," Finch said, suggesting, "[The fans] want the flops on the offensive players out of the game."
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After Wednesday's Warriors game, Kerr maintained that the league and its officials need to do a better job identifying and penalizing players flopping during games.
"You know my take on the NBA. We should be the No [expletive] Association," Kerr said, using a colorful word to replace the word "Basketball" in NBA.
"Like every bit of [expletive] that the players try to pull, we should just say, 'No, no, no, we're not doin that,' and it's a better game when guys aren't flopping," he said.
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"I feel like, as a league, we're constantly behind the players. The players are grifting, and we're chasing them, and we're never getting ahead, and that's my biggest issue," Kerr told reporters postgame.
Ahead of the season, the NBA revealed that among the points of emphasis for players, coaches, and referees this season would be "exaggerated and theatrical" movements to get calls, better known by everyone as "flopping."
The Warriors coach said he's submitted clips to the league to review for various calls earlier in the season, but he didn't indicate what was involved in his conversations with the NBA. He also indicated that he believes the league's "officials do a great job" overall with how they officiate games.
During the NBA's 2025-26 season and the ensuing postseason, many critics claimed Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander used "flopping" to receive favorable calls when attempting shots.
However, SGA defenders, including Kendrick Perkins, claimed that he is one of many players who became adept at taking advantage of the referee's whistle on his plays.
On Tuesday night, three players received technical fouls during the Portland Trail Blazers' game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Ja Morant, Toumani Camara, and Ziaire Williams received technical fouls for flopping on defense, all within a two-minute sequence in the game's fourth quarter.
That's prompted the recent questions directed to Kerr and Finch, with both coaches seemingly interested in the league continuing to work on fixing the flopping issues, rather than allowing players to get away with it and impact games. However, neither the Warriors nor the Timberwolves had any technical fouls called on players for flopping.
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