At the Clippers' practice facility on Tuesday, forward Blake Griffin was told that Lakers forward Matt Barnes was still accusing him of being a flopper.
Griffin laughed.
"I don't really have much to say to him or to that," he said. "If he's mad that I tried to take a charge, then so be it. I'm not even going to get into trash talking and going back and forth about it; if that's what he feels, then that's what he feels."
The incident in question occurred during an exhibition game between the teams Dec. 21. Barnes, annoyed by Griffin's high-flying dunks and perceived boasting, shoved Griffin to the floor. Griffin slid from inside the free-throw line to past the three-point line in what Barnes considered an Oscar-worthy performance.
"He's just an amazing athlete, can dunk, can do everything on the court — he just flops and I don't understand; I don't get it," Barnes said of Griffin at a recent event at Staples Center.
The physicality continued when the teams played their first regular-season game against each other Jan. 14. The Lakers and Clippers combined for five technical fouls. In one play late in the first quarter, Griffin pushed Lakers guard Darius Morris while he was attempting a dunk after the whistle was blown, sending Coach Mike Brown running onto the court screaming.
"I wasn't trying to hurt him," Griffin said Tuesday.
Griffin explained that when he was a rookie, he learned not to jam after a play was halted. Apparently, he was just trying to pass along the lesson.
"I know Darius," he said. "I mean, we're cool. Looking at the tape, I don't even see like an area where you can say I was trying to hurt him. I know the way he fell may have been a little awkward, but, I mean, that's all something that's lingering and I have no idea why."
Griffin escaped the play without a technical, but Brown has since publicly pushed the league to reassess that decision.
"I don't know if they gave it to him or not," Brown told reporters Tuesday, "but the league said Blake should've gotten at least a technical for pushing [Morris]."
Despite all of the shoving, both teams claim that there's no rivalry at Staples Center. Right, just like Shaq and Kobe were best friends when they played for the Lakers. The teams play again Wednesday.
When Griffin was asked if the Clippers have the Lakers number, he said, "I mean, we have everybody's number. We're going after every team."
