There are some ‘flops’ in the NBA that warrant quotation marks: When guys embellish illegal defensive contact by flailing their head back or throwing their arms in the air, for instance. Those occasions aren’t worthy of the overwhelming reproach they so often receive from the viewing public.
This absolutely embarrassing dive by Cody Zeller, though? It warrants all the attention in the world. Why? The Charlotte Hornets big man fabricated force of any kind whatsoever to draw a whistle on Hassan Whiteside, who subsequently left the game after picking up his second foul just over halfway through the first quarter.
Gross. But at least Whiteside and his team got the last laugh.
The Miami Heat beat Charlotte 115-103 to take a 2-0 lead in the teams’ first-round series behind more historically hot shooting and dominant two-way play from the aggrieved, long-limbed big man. Whiteside scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and shot 8-of-8 from the field on Wednesday night, upping his postseason shooting percentage to 89.4 (!). Zeller, on the other hand, had a ho-hum eight points and six rebounds in just 14 minutes of play.
Let’s just call it karma for one of the most egregious and strategically pointed flops we’ve seen all season long. Thank you, basketball gods.
(h/t r/nba)
