Lakers' LeBron James Responds to Flopping Allegations by Warriors HC Steve Kerr

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James denied Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr's insinuation that the Lakers have been flopping during their second-round playoff series.

Speaking to the media after the Lakers' 121-106 road loss to Golden State in Game 5 of the series Wednesday, James insisted that the team doesn't seek out chances to flop:

After the Lakers made all 20 of their free-throw attempts in their 104-101 win in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead, Kerr spoke out about his belief that the Lakers were embellishing to draw fouls.

Per Angelina Martin of NBC Sports Bay Area, Kerr said the following about flopping and the Lakers' perceived use of the technique:

"I think we should address it, because the players are so smart, and the entire regular season is about gamesmanship and trying to fool the refs. And this is how it's been for a while, and it's up to us as a league. Do we want to fix this? ... 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 the Lakers credit for the plays that they've been able to sell."

Per Sam Amick of The Athletic, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham opposed Kerr's viewpoint on L.A. flopping much like James, saying:

"We play a physical brand of basketball. We don't teach flopping. We don't teach head snaps. You see Bron [and] he's got a thousand scratches on his arms, same with AD, same with Austin Reaves, same with Lonnie Walker.

"It's unfortunate that it comes to that, but we hadn't [focused on flopping] all year, and we're damn sure not going to start now, looking for a third party to dive in and help us. We're just going to coach our team, just going to play the way we play—a physical, forceful brand of basketball and just let the chips fall where they may."

Whether the Lakers had been flopping or not, Kerr's appeal to the league may have worked, as both teams shot 15 free throws in Game 5.

That marked the first time in the entire series that L.A. did not have the free-throw advantage, which is something that has played a big role in the results thus far.

In the Lakers' Game 1 win, they shot 29 free throws compared to six for Golden State. Los Angeles then shot 37 times from the line in Game 3, whereas the Dubs had 17 foul shot attempts.

A big part of the disparity is likely the fact that the Lakers like to operate inside with James and Anthony Davis, while the Warriors are more of an outside-centric team with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson chucking up threes.

Kerr called out what he thought were inconsistencies, though—whether or not the referees were influenced by it, that free-throw gap evaporated in Game 5.

Now, the series heads back to Los Angeles for Game 6, and the Lakers will have another chance to close out the defending NBA champions on Friday.