The Thunder are on the verge of reaching the NBA Finals for the second season in a row, as the defending champions hold a 3–2 lead over the Spurs heading into Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. While fans should be focusing on Oklahoma City’s incredible two-year run, another storyline has taken hold of the NBA discourse: flopping.
Throughout the postseason, fans have noticed that the Thunder, led by two-time MVP Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, have a tendency to flop when faced with minimal to no contact. There is a lot of dramatic flailing and, worse, a ton of falling to the floor when little or no contact happens.
The discussions about the Thunder’s histrionics have gotten so bad that lawyers are issuing cease and desist letters to fantasy sports websites that harp on it. The Thunder have the makings of a modern dynasty, but the way they play is wearing on NBA fans.
Just how bad is the issue? Judge for yourself. What follows is a look at some of the most obvious flops from the Thunder during the Western Conference finals.
7. Jared McCain’s belly flop
Midway through the second quarter of Game 5, the Thunder led 45–41 and playoff hero Jared McCain brought the ball up while being harassed by Spurs guard Dylan Harper. McCain pushed off a bit on Harper, who certainly played up the contact. After getting past his defender, McCain slowed up before the three-point line and waited for Harper to get close. He leaned back as the rookie approached and barely touched him. In the video below, you can see that as the contact happens, McCain falls forward dramatically, kicking his legs out and landing flat on his belly.
Watch below.
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
This is a touch foul at best, and McCain winds up flat on the court like he was shoved down hard.
6. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggles to stay on his feet
We’ll get into Gilgeous-Alexander’s issues more in a minute, but this is another foul from Game 5 that featured, at best, minimal contact and a player falling to the court like he’d been bumped hard.
On an inbounds play, SGA receives the pass from Isaiah Hartenstein and appears to be slightly off-balance. Stephon Castle is in a tight guarding position, but certainly doesn’t shove him. Gilgeous-Alexander allows himself to fall to the court, and the official in the area calls for a foul immediately. On replay, it’s clear Castle’s contact did not cause the Thunder star to fall.
Now, let me be clear, there was some contact on this play, but it was not what caused him to hit the deck. Watch below.
SGA flopped twice on the same play
— NBA Shane (@Shane00) May 27, 2026
Shameless pic.twitter.com/Q9yy2Nf0gR
And another angle:
Have we considered that SGA might have a balancing problem?? pic.twitter.com/H4mIB6oKcF
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) May 27, 2026
5. Luguentz Dort goes flying on minimal contact
Luguentz Dort got in on the act in Game 5. With 2:05 remaining in the first half, and OKC up 58-49, Dort was guarding Castle on the perimeter. The Spurs’ guard dribbled left as forward Julian Champagnie moved in to set a ball screen. He made contact with Dort, who went flying after being touched. Champagnie was called for his third foul on the play before San Antonio challenged the call.
After review, it was determined Thunder center Chet Holmgren had actually shoved Champagnie into Dort, who then took a dive after the contact.
The original highlight is followed by the replay below.
Champagnie called for his 3rd foul. Spurs have challenged the call pic.twitter.com/Ioe9kbZjS8
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) May 27, 2026
Successful challenge by the Spurs https://t.co/yttElOFdis pic.twitter.com/cFGtIylOdy
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) May 27, 2026
This is another example of legitimate contact after which a Thunder player dove to the court.
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fell nine times while shooting in Game 2
Throughout Game 2, Gilgeous-Alexander was at his worst. As Yahoo!’s Tom Haberstroh wrote, the Thunder star falls after shooting more than any player in the NBA, and receives calls on roughly half of those tumbles. During Game 2, he fell after nine shots. Most of the time, there was minimal, if any, contact.
Shai flopped on every single shot attempt. pic.twitter.com/EGsbp3dUbT
— House of Lowlights (@HouseLowlights) May 21, 2026
This is ridiculous. Virtually every time he lands on his feet then allows himself to fall, hoping for a call.
3. Isaiah Joe takes a tumble
Late in the first half of Game 2, the Spurs had an offensive possession with less than 20 seconds remaining before the break. After a missed Harper jumper led to an offensive rebound by Harrison Barnes, Thunder guard Isaiah Joe attempted to recover defensively after chasing the rebound. He made slight contact with Barnes, then appeared to trip and flailed his arms out as if he’d been pushed. He hadn’t been.
Isaiah Joe receives a massive whiplash from Harrison Barnes' aura, and Barnes is called for the foul (with a replay).
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) May 21, 2026
This is kind of flopping is really shameless, lol. pic.twitter.com/F9rWwnvSaJ
That is a strong contender for the worst flop in the series. I really don’t know how the ref fell for that one. There’s virtually no contact, and Barnes neither initiated it nor did anything that could have caused Joe to fall.
2. SGA’s rough landing in Game 4
We’re focusing a lot on Gilgeous-Alexander, mostly because he’s so good without this kind of behavior. He doesn’t need it to be an elite player, yet continues to indulge in it.
Early in Game 4, he took a pass at the elbow with De'Aaron Fox guarding him and made a really nice dribble and step-back move to get open for a shot. He let it go, and as he did, Fox made a conscious effort to give him room to land while still staying close to his body. There was minimal contact between the two, but as SGA came down, he let his feet hit the floor, then fell backwards onto the court.
SGA just fell down on the shot completely UNTOUCHED
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) May 25, 2026
This is the most SHAMELESS basketball player I've ever seen and the refs keep letting him get away with it pic.twitter.com/SYRMd1NQPQ
Again, there is contact here, but nowhere near enough to send Gilgeous-Alexander to the floor. Fox is attempting to avoid him, but it appears SGA’s left foot grazes Fox’s left knee. Is it a foul? In the Western Conference finals? I’d let that go. But I can tell you with 100% certainty that Gilgeous-Alexander made himself fall here.
1. Jaylin Williams flops and gets a call on Keldon Johnson
To me, this is the worst one from the entire series. It again comes from Game 5, and features an Oklahoma City player looking like he got drilled when he actually initiated the contact.
Midway through the second quarter, the Thunder came down the court on offense, and Jaylin Williams jogged into position. He looked up, ran right into Spurs forward Keldon Johnson, and flew back like he'd been punched. Now, so you're aware, Williams is listed at 6'9" and 240 pounds, while Johnson is 6'6" and 220. I'm telling you that so when you watch the video, you understand how ridiculous Williams's reaction is.
Enjoy:
Jaylin Williams looked at Keldon Johnson, ran directly into him AND FELL DOWN. Foul on the Spurs.
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) May 27, 2026
This is getting RIDICULOUS pic.twitter.com/PXlQRydLZz
Williams fell back like Johnny Knoxville running headfirst into a brick wall. He has three inches and 20 pounds on Johnson. What are we doing here?
This kind of stuff is making some moments of what has been a phenomenal series between two outstanding teams into an unwatchable mess. It has to stop.
