Philadelphia 76ers’ Paul Reed seems intent on engaging in mind games before his team’s matchup against the LA Lakers. While talking to Philly journalist Austin Krell before the game, the 24-year-old Center was asked about his strategy to match up with Anthony Davis. The 6 ft 9″ 76ers star had a rather confident response, and ended up claiming that AD was a huge “flopper.”
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Reed said that he had no choice but to contain his aggression against Davis, as he did not wish to get into foul trouble.
“He’s a big flopper, so make sure that I don’t get in foul trouble early. Can’t be too aggressive with him. You know, he’s gonna be flailing. So, gotta make sure that I stay out of foul trouble,” he said, signaling his confidence that Davis would resort to flailing if he played his normal game.
Reed, who was selected as the 58th overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft, has not yet started a game this season. During his 16 appearances averaging 13.4 minutes per game, he has produced 4.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game.
The Lakers will take on the 76ers today night after their recent win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, in which Davis played a crucial role, with 32 points and 13 rebounds to his name. However, despite showing consistent flashes of brilliance, AD has been regularly accused of not delivering when his team has needed him the most, something which needs to change if the Lakers are going to compete for a championship.
Regardless, as things stand, Paul Reed certainly seems confident of taking AD and his team on, and believes that the Brow will end up resorting to flopping if he gets too aggressive.
Darvin Ham recently defended LeBron James and Anthony Davis from flopping accusations
Of course, in addition to AD, LeBron James is also regularly accused of being a bit of a flopper on the court. Most notably, Steve Kerr had recently called out the Lakers for flopping after Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals last season.
In response, Ham had strictly claimed that his team played a physical brand of basketball, and were not taught to flop. “We play a physical brand of basketball,” Ham said. “We don’t teach flopping. We don’t teach head snaps. You see Bron, he’s got a thousand scratches on his arm. Same with AD. Same with Austin Reaves. Same with Lonnie Walker,” he said, talking about his team, as per Silver Screen and Roll.
Ham went on to claim that his team had not engaged in any flopping the entire year and said that it was unfortunate that the accusations had come up. Of course, Ham will be hoping for a similar response against the 76ers and Paul Reed, that they produced against the Warriors.
