Someone go check on Jeff Van Gundy to make sure he did not have a heart attack on Sunday night after watching Reggie Evans’ horrible flop performance.
A week after Van Gundy ranted on national television claiming the NBA condones flopping across the league, Evans essentially made a case for why the league office needs to address the issue before it damages the game any further.
The acting display happened during the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Clippers win over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday. After setting a pick on Hornets guard Greivis Vasquez near mid-court, Evans flew dramatically backward once Vasquez turned and gave him a slight forearm shove to the chest.
The rest is Oscar worthy — Best actor in a drama goes to Reggie Evans.
The officiating crew was on top of the play and actually called a Flagrant Foul 2 on Vasquez. That was sarcasm.
Thankfully they reviewed the footage and saw Evans’ flop, reversing field and changing it to a personal foul. But at that point, the damage was already done and not only made Evans look weak as the clip quickly went viral on YouTube and Twitter, but also threw more fuel onto the fire as to why David Stern and the NBA needs to take a harder stand against flopping.
Van Gundy is right. But it is just amazing it has taken this long for a “Stop the Flop” campaign to suddenly take off.
Sure, physical play and officials making foul calls comes down to an interpretation of what is deemed a foul and has always been part of the game, but the situation could be eliminated today if the league office chose to address it. Treating flops like technical fouls and issuing fines just might be the solution as Van Gundy suggested, because seeing guys like Evans rip off the game sure is not working.
Even Vlade Divac has to be shaking his head at that one.
Evans may have finished with one point and four rebounds in 11 minutes during the Clippers’ 107-98 win over the Hornets, but it was “the flop” that drew post game heat from New Orleans head coach Monty Williams.
“It’s hard to play against all the flopping and nonsense that goes on with that team,” said Williams.
“Who is the common denominator with all this fluff going on around the league? Blake Griffin….We don’t dunk, we don’t stare at people, we play the game the same way every night. … But all the extra stuff, we’ve never been about that.
“They put Reggie Evans in the game for one reason, and that’s to come in and hit people. It’s hard to play against that.”
Kudos to Williams.
Players around the league have been outspoken about the Clippers being “Flop City,” but this is the first time a head coach has thrown out some verbal blowsand basically said what’s on everyone’s mind.
It is long overdue.
