With the All-Star teams announced for the season, controversy was bound to follow. First, it was the omission of LeBron James from the All-Star starting lineup that stirred up former players and analysts. Now, the debate has shifted to international players being the best floppers in the NBA. Why so?
Advertisement
This season’s All-Star game is introducing a new format featuring two Team USA rosters and one Team World. As far as former NBA star Kevin Garnett is concerned, the NBA ought to be done with these gimmicks to begin with and make the All-Star games about what they are supposed to be- basketball.
Garnett also accused international players in the NBA of flopping too much and diminishing the product on display. He went on a serious rant about it with former Celtics teammate Paul Pierce on his podcast, KG Certified.
“If you like any of them m********** up one on one, half of them m********* can’t guard. It’s two sides to the ball,” Garnett began, even bringing up Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic in the conversation.
“You line them m********** up, man, Americans will destroy any m******** you line up!… This isn’t always going to be international. International guys have brought a bunch of flopping to the game. I can’t f**king stand it,” he added.
Comparing the current state of affairs to his own playing days, Garnett complained that international players go up to the referee far too often.
“We got all this flopping and s*** man. We weren’t doing all that s*** before bro. I get it, it’s been some greatness, but been some weirdness that we’ve taken from them. I hate that narrative- ‘since international players start younger,’ so what? They’re not putting out a better product,” he angrily asserted.
Notably, Garnett is not the first NBA star to comment on international players bringing European sports culture to American basketball. While it has certainly led to some positive changes in the NBA’s style of play, the exaggeration of fouls has also noticeably increased.
Earlier, Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George attributed this rise in flopping to sports like soccer, where dramatic reactions to secure fouls are common. However, while these arguments have some merit, there is no empirical evidence to fully support them.
American NBA greats like LeBron James, Draymond Green, and James Harden have also often been accused of being skilled actors. Unless the NBA issues clearer guidelines for referees in these situations, flopping doesn’t seem likely to disappear anytime soon. It also really doesn’t matter whether the floppers are American or European.
