Steve Kerr Angrily Called Out the Kings for Flopping All Over the Place

Tensions boiled over in Sunday night's matchup.

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and Sacramento Kings interim head coach Doug Christie react after a play with Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (11) and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the third quarter at Chase Center. / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

The Sacramento Kings pounded the Golden State Warriors, 129-99, on Sunday in a testy contest that boiled over late in the third quarter when Draymond Green set a hard, legal pick on an unsuspecting Keon Ellis. Ellis went sprawling to the floor and officials let the contact slide before whistling the Kings for a shooting foul a few seconds later. As Ellis lay on the hardwood and lobbied that there should have been an offensive foul called, Warriors coach Steve Kerr became extremely animated, insisting that Ellis needs to stop flopping all over the place.

Kings coach Doug Christie did not this and rushed into the fray to support his player before Domantas Sabonis was able to get him to calm down. Green helpfully and colorfully told Ellis to get back on his feet. When the smoke cleared and cooler heads prevailed, Kerr was assessed a technical foul and the rout continued.

Microphones captured Kerr saying, "stop flopping, play basketball" and one can wonder if he was giving that advice to Ellis earnestly.

"stop flopping and play basketball"

After Draymond Green nails Keon Ellis with a screen, Steve Kerr gets T'd up after becoming irate accusing Ellis of "flopping all over the place."pic.twitter.com/byo1Y428hn

— Hot Hand Theory (@HotHandTheory) January 6, 2025

There may have been other flops in the game. But Ellis sustained a lot of contact without warning there so it seems reasonable that he ended up on the ground. His frustration could probably more properly focused on whichever teammate failed to warn him about Green about to lower the boom.

Perhaps this incident spices up the remaining three matchups between these two teams. Golden State is 18-17 and the Kings are 17-19 so it's reasonable to think those contests could have a major impact on playoff seeding.

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