Stephen Curry not getting foul calls has become a big talking point following the Golden State Warriors‘ 106-96 loss to the Houston Rockets. Curry didn’t shoot a single free throw in the loss despite going up against a very physical defense, and Draymond Green explained why his teammate doesn’t get calls on The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.
“He don’t talk to the referees and he gets penalized for that,” Green said. “I also think he gets penalized because he is not a flopper. And so, it’s almost as if, ‘Oh, he not getting fouled,’ or, ‘It don’t matter because he ain’t showing that he getting fouled.’ I think in this league, we reward flopping.
“We put a flopping rule in that you never see get called,” Green added. “But we reward flopping and flailing, and Steph does neither. It doesn’t really hurt him because he still do what he do, but it hurts him as far as getting the call and getting to the free throw line because he don’t flop and he don’t sell the calls.”
Green believes Curry should be getting 10 free throws every game, considering how often he gets fouled. He claims opponents always grab and hold the two-time MVP when he’s off the ball because they know they’re in trouble if he creates even a little bit of separation.
Curry currently averages 4.3 free-throw attempts per game in 2024-25, his lowest since he averaged 4.2 per game in 2018-19. He has only averaged more than six attempts in one of his 16 seasons in the NBA, and his new teammate Jimmy Butler believes he deserved a lot more foul calls over the course of his career.
Butler claimed he had never seen someone get fouled as often as Curry does. He is angered by the 11-time All-Star getting treated in this manner by the officials.
It will be interesting to see if Curry gets more calls moving forward following this outcry. He and the Warriors take on the Phoenix Suns next at Footprint Center on Tuesday at 10 PM ET.
Ime Udoka Reacted To The Warriors’ Complaints
While some had sympathy for the Warriors, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka certainly didn’t. Udoka and Curry exchanged words at the end of the second quarter, and the former sent out a stern message when asked about that back-and-forth by The Athletic.
“When people start complaining about foul calls or crying about physicality, you’ve done your job,” Udoka said. “That’s the first step in winning the battle. So I told my team, when this team starts crying about it, up the intensity, up the aggressiveness, and make the refs adjust to you.”
Udoka’s players certainly upped the intensity after that exchange, as Curry went scoreless in the second half. The Rockets played some very aggressive defense on the 37-year-old, and he finished with just three points (1-10 FG), two rebounds, and eight assists on the night. You can make an argument for this being the worst game of his career.
A playoff series between these teams would be fascinating to watch, and we could get it in the first round itself. The Rockets are second in the West with a 52-27 record and are likely to finish there. The Warriors, meanwhile, are sixth with a 46-32 record and could easily drop down to the play-in spots.
