Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 2026 MVP and is within touching distance of another NBA Finals appearance, but those aren’t the biggest talking points surrounding him at the moment. Gilgeous-Alexander has come under a great deal of criticism for flopping, and podcaster Patrick Bet-David blames LeBron James for his antics.
Bet-David reacted to a clip of ESPN’s Michael Wilbon warning that kids will learn to flop if Gilgeous-Alexander wins another title by claiming the Canadian learned it from James.
“SGA learned flopping from LeBron. The NBA is a bad product when the face of the league is a flopper. NBA viewership could rise again if Wemby becomes the face of the league. Wemby’s toughness will be a great example for the next generation of the kids coming up.”
SGA learned flopping from LeBron.
The NBA is a bad product when the face of the league is a flopper.
NBA viewership could rise again if Wemby becomes the face of the league.
Wemby’s toughness will be a great example for the next generation of the kids coming up. https://t.co/wCHG4m9GsX
— Patrick Bet-David (@patrickbetdavid) May 28, 2026
This was quite bizarre, but Bet-David has been one of James’ fiercest critics in recent years. He hasn’t passed up too many opportunities to slam the superstar.
Previously, Bet-David called James the worst face of the NBA ever, a ridiculous statement. Now, the 22-time All-Star isn’t perfect by any means, but there have been no major off-the-court scandals that he has been involved in.
All eyes have been on James in this social media era, and there is nothing too controversial that anyone can point to. Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green believes he is the greatest face the NBA has ever had.
Now, has James resorted to flopping in his career? He absolutely has, but so have many others who came before and after him. James is hardly the worst when it comes to it, too. He has also dismissed the flopping allegations by pointing out he hasn’t been getting to the free-throw line a lot in recent years.
The last time James even averaged more than 8.0 free-throw attempts per game in a season was back in 2011-12 (8.1). The 41-year-old averaged just 5.3 attempts per game for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2025-26, and you could argue he deserves more calls than he gets. James has been penalized throughout his career for being bigger and stronger than most players he has gone up against.
Bet-David isn’t going to bother with any of this, though. This is not the first time he has brought up flopping when talking about James, either.
Bet-David said James will go down as the greatest flopper of all time. He claimed the Akron native destroyed the NBA and its viewership. Bet-David also said James is the biggest drama queen and crybaby among superstars in NBA history. It’s almost unhealthy to have this much animosity towards someone.
We often talk about Skip Bayless being James’ biggest critic, but it might be Bet-David. Bayless gives him the odd compliment at least from time to time.
