Miami Heat's LeBron James is no stranger to criticism, but his alleged flopping has made him the butt of jokes in Chicago.
"You see LeBron in a lot of commercials, a lot of good acting," Chicago Bulls guard Nate Robinson said after Game 3.
James' reputation for flopping precedes him. But, in the physical Eastern Conference semifinals bout between Miami and Chicago, James' flopping and the subsequent officiating calls are agitating the Bulls.
Chicago has already tallied up eight technical fouls and three ejections so far in the series. Game 3's ejection of Chicago veteran Nazr Mohammed seemed to be the tipping point, according to Yahoo! Sports.
"From my angle, I just saw a guy flop," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.
Mohammed wrapped the reigning MVP up on a fast break to prevent an easy basket, to which James responded by throwing the veteran to the ground. James received a technical foul, but that didn't appease Mohammed - he stood up and shoved James.
James, 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, recoiled from the shove and fell on his butt. Officials subsequently ejected Mohammed.
"A push shouldn't get an ejection. ... It was a cheap shot throwing me down," Mohammad said after the game.
But there is a bigger issue peeving the Bulls.
"We're not going to get calls," Thibodeau said. "That's reality."
Thibodeau's comments after the game earned him a $35,000 fine from the NBA. Chicago players agree with their coach's sentiments though.
"We've had guys jumping on Nate's face, guys backing up Marco Belinelli out of bounds. There's been a lot of plays that didn't get ejections," Mohammed said.
The recent incident won't help to deflate the mounting tension in the series. Both teams have a disdain for each other. When James received the 2013 MVP award, Chicago players didn't clap. The teams didn't even exchange the perfunctory hand shakes before Game 3's tipoff.
"We really dislike each other," Bulls' Taj Gibson said. "And it shows on the court."
Chicago and Miami face each other for Game 4 on Monday at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.
