Los Angeles Clippers: Are They the Detroit Bad Boys Pistons of Flopping?
The Clippers are gaining a bit of a reputation, and it's not entirely positive. On ESPN's Flop of the Night, Beckley Mason devoted a whole post to their Game 4 antics, and the angry social media reaction it inspired. Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins straight up called out Chris Paul's "flopping" in his mid-game interview—an unusually strident public tack.
Lob City has clearly given way to Flop City, and we have an entire team in the wrestling "heel" role. It's unlike anything I've ever seen, since I mostly missed Detroit's era of villainhood. The Miami Heat were hated perhaps more than any franchise in the history of sports, but that had nothing to do with their play and everything to do with what preceded it. The Clippers are different, this is an organic response to what people are seeing on the floor.
And what are fans seeing? Aside from Chris Paul's fairly standard flails for free throws, the public watches Blake Griffin writhe on the floor, often clutching his face. It's a step further than standard call-baiting, an attempt to seem hurt, long after the fake contact. He's the Bill Laimbeer of feigned victimhood, and fans are starting to loathe it more than they like his dunks.
If we're augmenting the analogy, Chris Paul fills in nicely as the evolutionary Isaiah Thomas, a tiny, fiery leader who meshes brilliance with questionable on-court ethics. It's all in the game for the L.A. Bad Boys, a game they've gotten increasingly comfortable with trolling.
