Marcus Smart had a great take on Facundo Campazzo flopping incident originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The NBA’s floppers stick together.
Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Denver Nuggets guard Facundo Campazzo both baited each other into foul calls Friday night at TD Garden.
Campazzo’s flopping efforts nearly got Smart in more trouble, however: Smart appeared to hit Campazzo in the face and shove him to the floor with less than a minute remaining in regulation, causing the referees to review the play for a potential hostile act.
The officials let Smart off the hook, though, and after the game, the veteran guard said he didn’t mind Campazzo’s embellishment to try to draw the call.
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“I love it,” Smart said, as seen in the video above. “I mean, it’s part of it. He’s doing what anybody would do to get a call.”
Smart, who has been known to embellish plays from time to time, then shared his defense of the NBA flopper.
“Everybody talks about flopping. Flopping is — everybody does it,” Smart said. “Flopping is trying to get the call. You can flop on defense and you can flop on offense.
“The guys who flop on the defensive end probably get a little more hatred because of it, but you’ve got some of people’s favorite players who flop on the offensive end just as much.”
While the most egregious flops make the headlines, Smart pointed out that more subtle “flops” happen on a nightly basis — and can be the right play to make if you’re able to draw a foul.
“If anybody sits there and says, ‘Not everybody does it in this league’ they’re lying,” Smart said. “At some point in the game, you’re doing it. It’s a smart play. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Campazzo was unsuccessful in his flop attempt, actually fouling Smart on the play and giving the Celtics two free throws as they pulled away for a 108-102 victory.
Smart knows his reputation precedes him, though, which is why he was expecting the worst.
“I figured they would have (given me a technical foul),” Smart said. “When they try to put a reputation on you, they try to use things that way to punish you or justify certain things.”