For the last couple of seasons, Oklahoma City Thunder fans have been trying to defend their team from accusations surrounding unethical play. Their current playoff series against the Spurs is only worsening that, as rampant flopping and cheap shots are making it impossible to watch them play.
While the Thunder's pro-flopping game plan has been talked about for a while, it's really picked up steam this postseason. The Spurs are having a tough time overcoming the foul baiting from OKC, combined with the referees' preferential treatment of the reigning champions.
De'Aaron Fox was called for a foul on SGA here. 😅 pic.twitter.com/XvD72bT8uP
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 25, 2026
In game four, De'Aaron Fox was defending against Shai Gilegeous-Alexander. SGA took a jump shot while Fox kept his arms at his sides and leaned away from him. After that, SGA blatantly threw himself to the ground without contact from Fox and was rewarded with a shockingly dubious foul call.
The Thunder are taking the fun out of the playoffs
This was just one of dozens of similar questionable calls throughout the series so far. Game five was the absolute worst of it. The referees botched multiple calls in the Thunder's favor, even outright ignoring an attempt by the Spurs' coach, Mitch Johnson, to review a bad call at one point.
None of this is completely new. Top stars and top teams will often get the benefit of the doubt from refs in pretty much every major sports league. SGA also isn't the first player to flop his way to stardom. James Harden has certainly been guilty of this, as have LeBron James and the Lakers.
Jared McCain elbowed Dylan Harper in the throat, backed it up on him and fell down 😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/P8JsvftRHl
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) May 27, 2026
That doesn't change the fact that the Thunder as a whole have become foul merchants who are winning games by manipulating that benefit of the doubt to the extreme. Even Jared McCain, who has only been on the team since the trade deadline, has become an epic flopper in a short period of time.
OKC should be better than this
The worst part is that OKC doesn't need to play this way to win. They are a legitimately great team with all the pieces it takes to win on their own merits. Instead, they are actively choosing to devalue the playoffs by acting their way to the free-throw line rather than actually playing basketball.
Right now, the Spurs can barely run past a member of the Thunder's roster without one of them falling to the ground and feigning an injury of some kind. The hardest moment of game five was watching Lu Dort have a laugh with the refs mid-game. It had to be demoralizing to the Spurs to see that happen.
Towards the end of game five, a couple of the Spurs benchers went in and legit knocked McCain around. Those weren't just fouls. They were messages for OKC. If they are going to fake fouls to win games, San Antonio might as well just start laying into them. Game six is going to get rough.
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