James Harden finally getting the respect he deserves. A real OG. He flopped so Shai could flail.

Does no one else think this is a completely reasonable and agreeable take?? The players want to win and I don’t blame them for doing anything possible even if it includes flopping to varying levels. The refs job isn’t to make the game more fun to watch, it’s to adhere to the rules. If the rules don’t clearly state what is and isn’t allowed then why are we pointing fingers at anything other than the rules. The rulebook needs a changeup and anyone who blames anything else is missing the bigger picture

players being able to ram into defenders and still get a foul call is crazy too

I mean this is the most reasonable take. He’s saying Shai is good at playing within the rules that currently exist. Which is objectively true. Also, it would be nice to see rule changes made that would give defensive players more of a shot to actually play defense and one of those rule changes would be making the push off an offensive foul or just not calling it a defensive foul

The problem is how the league wants an offensive focused sport. The guys like shai, Luka and others are just using the rules to their advantage. Every sport is the same

He’s exactly right. The league sucks ass.

Here comes a bunch of whataboutisms in the comments

I’m watching the clips below what Kerr is saying and what I see is that Shai’s first step allows him to get his defender on his hip every single time. That is not legal guarding position so any contact that effects Shai’s balance, speed, or path to the hoop is a foul. I don’t think that’s a problem with the rules, I think that’s a problem with teaching defense and defensive systems league wide. Too many guys get caught on the hip, put their arms into the offensive players chest and expect to get away with it.

I think the Thunder are the best example of how to get around this in the league and perhaps some of the reason why some people think the Thunder’s whistle is a lot better than any other teams. For starters, they have some of the best POA defenders in the league who move well laterally and beat beat offensive players to their spot. Defenders making contact with the offensive player is allowed so long as the offensive player is not making a move towards the hoop and their defenders know this and use it to its fullest extent. Secondly, when they do get beat to the spot, they keep their hands at their sides and either go for a back tap for a steal or rotate to another man as the big steps up to contest the drive. Now everyone rotates over one man and once the ball swings around to the “open” players, they are all still covered and no advantage is created.

To me, far too many coaches have this idea to put the best defenders on an island against the best offensive players and then get mad when offensive players who are able to consistently create advantages like Shai get fouled a lot. I don’t want the rules to be able to bail out bad defenders to rely on using their arms to slow down offensive players that beat them off the dribble. I know people now say you “can’t play defense” but to me it’s more that you can’t rely on one-on-one lowdown defender defense anymore, it’s all about team play and a strong defensive system.

I bet its frustrating for him especially when he sees how steph is defended

Surely the worst commissioner in sports will get right on this right after he figures out salary cap circumventing, tanking, rigged lotteries and expansion

There’s been a lot of talk about the rules lately… I’m sure big changes are coming for next season.

Kerr is right. The NBA have a flopping problem that’s currently being enabled by the league. And the 2 leading MVP candidates, SGA and Jokic are probably the biggest floppers among active players.

Slow down, Kerr didn’t say shai “exploits” the rules, he said he takes advantage. Big difference. If the rules give you space to play a certain way, that is totally different than bending the rules to play a certain way.

also, I think most people agree with this assessment, and I would anticipate a swing in officiating (with specific rule addition/changes) that favor defenses and limit foul baiting league-wide in the offseason. Lots of smoke lately, and when there’s smoke there’s fire.

Steve Kerr: SGA is very clever and talented

Thunder fans in the comments: Fuck Steve Kerr

Serious question for any non-Thunder fans, is SGA’s playstyle entertaining to watch? For me it’s exactly like when I’d watch Harden back in the day. I can appreciate the talent, but the flops and flails from contact I legitimately don’t see on my 4k TV, which leads to free throw after free throw is just boring. It becomes especially grating for SGA since he plays for a team known for gritty physical defense.

It’s not personal, it’s wanting to improve the product. Take away all these ticky tack fouls, and consistently penalize flopping. SGA and the Thunder are insanely talented, I wouldn’t be surprised if he still wins MVP and the chip even with those changes.

Feels like a lot of people are missing a big component of this: theres legal foul baiting that guys do that is annoying but legal and you can’t blame them for using the rules.

But thats not even the most annoying variant of flopping. What pisses me off is how much contact offensive players can generate while driving and how little contact defensive players can give. That isnt a rule thats being exploited, its just poor officiating and the players embelishing marginal contact and being rewarded by the refs. Shai/luka/harden/a dozen other guys are all pushing off with their off hand all the time to generate space, and as soon as a defender bumps them theyre flailing and throwing a heave. Thats not within the rules, thats just flopping.

I don’t feel like the conversation around Shai revolves around the arm hooks though… That’s a well established thing with the rules that I’m not sure how you fix

The problem with SGA is they let him get away with a push off on every drive and then call the defender for it half the time

The reality is if someone played this way in a rec league or pickup game they’d be laughed off the court.

Valid take from Kerr

Ive seen coaches constantly use the reffing as an excuse to get the heat off of them on multiple occasions and while it happens especially with Shai and the Thunder i also see them doing it against the Pistons, the Rockets, etc.

It seems like coaches fail to adjust or challenge poor calls and then fall back on this as an excuse often times

An even bigger problem is that the league allows just certain players to abuse those rules.. Basically if you are a guard and a star. You can do this. Rest of the league? Hell no. Different rules.

personally, I believe any type of contact from the defender that would be considered a foul, the same type of contact should be called as on offensive foul as well. No chicken wings, no shoulder clear outs. Or just allow the defender to do the same to the ball handler.

NBA definitely needs to clean this up. Cheap foul-bating is not pretty basketball to watch.

Second clip was egregious.

All ball in the reach and Shai just contorts his feet and flails. Zero attempt to have body control to finish the shot in any coordinated way. Even leaps to his right to make it look like their was lower body contract:

I love the subtle use of “rules” instead of “refs”. It’s entirely genius and all players should abuse that now

Dont’ they call that “you reach, I teach” in today’s game?

All 4 of those clips are questionable calls. How are you supposed to play defense when the offensive player initiates all the contact yet still gets the favorable whistle every time? 

I dislike the blending of good connotations with bad actions. Cheating is not smart. Because something isn’t technically cheating doesn’t mean it’s right, ok or good. It’s a lack of integrity that hurts the game. It isn’t smart it’s selfish

The OKC official news outlet of self-delusion turned this into the following headline:

“Steve Kerr understands Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s brilliance at drawing fouls”

Here’s the reality, in ANY game, whether it’s video games, sports, or anything else, there will be participants who try to exploit the rules as much as possible, if not outright break them. It’s not something that can be changed short of magically mind controlling everybody. You are free to hate those participants all you want. I certainly do. But that is an unchanging reality to work around. Rules and enforcement of those rules exist to work around it. And that is the problem of the league, bad rules and poor enforcement.

So while I enjoy shitting on players flopping, the energy should be focus towards the failure of Adam Silver. Shai flop is Silver’s fault. Jokic Flop is Silver’s fault. And when Flagg turns into a flopper in the future, it is Silver’s fault.

The answer is that, if they hook you, you need to just go ahead and throw them around.
Let these guys risk actual injury to do dumb shit.

If things were called based on a consistent rule everything would be fine. Stuff like this has been going on for a while. Bigger players are allowed to be wacked more. Faster guys can get grabbed more. A call should be a call and needs to be consistent. Idc if someone is 600 pounds of steel, if they were hit then its a foul idc if you think it affected them or not

I can hate the rules and also hate Shai at the same time. Eventually he will twist an ankle or rip something in all of his embellishments. Not wishing for it, stating it is likely considering how much flailing he does

It’s a two fold problem and this is a huge piece. The other side is teams and players who are super aggressive on defense and dare the refs to call every foul. Of course they’re going to let more things slide. So teams and players also get a different whistle on defense. OKC is doing both and it’s a horrendous product.

Offensive player is too good for defensive players (unless they are allowed to foul), more news at 11.

Fix moving screens and tighten up what’s allowed footwork wise. That would help a lot. Shai and Harden draw fouls, defenders are fouling them. But offensive players don’t need more advantages steps wise or off of screens.

He’s right and everyone knows it. It’s the rules (and the refereeing) that sucks

The Flopping Crown has officially been passed down to FTA, what an honor

Exactly why folks are being turned off by the NBA

100% agree with Kerr. Still rich coming from the coach of the golden state warriors

This is a major reason I don’t really watch until the playoffs. Regular season has so many confounding issues that lower the play quality

Straight from the horses mouth about why the league is unwatchable.

All the flopping and foul baiting is a morally degenerate form of basketball.

Does he have any opinions on Draymond Green’s “real basketball moves?”

For this reason, i feel like wingspan is overrated for perimeter defense. I’d rather have someone with a strong trunk and a low center of gravity, because at least they can stay in front of the ball handler. The long skinny defenders seem to be getting cooked lately. 

So are all the players in the league allowed to assault teammates and other teams players with impunity?

Truth is, its box office poison watching light contact, flailing and a considerable amount of game time watching people shoot free throws. ss

If it isn’t a real attempt at a shot then it should be an offense foul. There’s a difference between wanting to score vs foul hunting. It cheapens tha integrity of tha game.

I’m with you coach

Players will adjust in a week if the league actually stopped rewarding foul-baiters

It’s a league where every marginal advantage can mean the difference between winning and losing — so of course players will push the boundaries as much as possible for that advantage.

It’s also why Kerr (and most good coaches) value effort / hustle so much. It costs very little (basically just physical energy) and can make a huge difference.

Give these people the KAT whistle and it will start to turn around

James Harden never rising in the playoffs is just karma for his legendary regular seasons. We need the same for Shai. He’s not like that. He dresses weird. His teammates are weird. The marketing just be marketing, the bets be betting and you can’t convince me that is actual basketball

This is my biggest pet peeve. The offensive off arm push off/hooking is the worst thing that’s happen to basketball in my lifetime.

Shai just has elite pain face when he’s flopping. It’s just mind boggling - does he practice in a mirror??

Yeah. If it works, people will do it.

And it works. So, it’s time to act like someone took your head off on a drive and flail about.

they need to change the rules.. deceiving refs and exploiting the rules should not be rewarded. I wanna see real skill moves, not free throw moves.. ugh..

Honestly, the best way to do it is to just foul him hard. Wait for the playoffs, wouldn’t be necessary in the regular season with everyone going 80%, but giving him a few hard fouls from some bench players will help with my flailing.