Coby White comments on controversial technical foul called on DeMar DeRozan for flopping

“I don’t understand how it could be a foul and a flop.”

On Wednesday, controversy erupted late in the fourth quarter of the Chicago Bulls’ game against the Houston Rockets. The Rockets were on the verge of a comeback, down 112-109 with 42 seconds remaining when the referees blew their whistle, citing a loose ball foul on Jalen Green for pushing DeMar DeRozan during the rebounding scramble.

However, that wasn’t the only infringement called by the referees, who also gave DeRozan a technical penalty for flopping, much to the dismay of Bulls coach Billy Donovan.

“If it’s a foul, it can’t be a flop!”

Billy Donovan was NOT happy after DeMar DeRozan was hit with a flopping technical foul 😅pic.twitter.com/u3hglMwxAB

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 11, 2024

Coby plays it safe

Rather than criticizing the refs, Bulls player Coby White—who led the team with 30 points and eight assists—laughed off the event, claiming he doesn’t know better than the game officials.

“No, bro, I don’t know the rules. “I just hoop, bro,” White replied, laughing.

However, White was rattled by the call, which allowed the Rockets to get within two points, 112-100, and later tie the game to send it to overtime.

“I don’t understand how it could be a foul and a flop, but that’s above my pay grade,” he said.

STEM movements

In September 2023, the NBA launched a new campaign to reduce flopping and improve the league’s gameplay.

According to Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s chief of referee development and training, they wanted to eliminate excessive motions that make players and officials seem awful.

“We want to get rid of the egregious, overt, over-the-top examples in which NBA players look bad, which have the chance to make NBA refereeing look bad, and which are just bad for the game,” McCutchen said in a statement.

The Bulls went on to win 124-119, which was all that mattered for White.

“I don’t work in that field. The refs do the best job they can every single night. We won, so at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

Coby White on whether he understood the technical flopping foul called on DeMar DeRozan at the end of regulation: “Nah bro I don’t know the rules. I just hoop.” pic.twitter.com/T2qtKeeezh

— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) January 11, 2024