Mason Plumlee’s flop of the year wasn’t good enough to draw a foul on DeMarcus Cousins

Boogie has a reputation, but the refs have to draw a line somewhere.

DeMarcus Cousins has a reputation as a tough NBA big man who just might accidentally elbow his opponent in the face. Mason Plumlee knew that, so in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ Wednesday night loss to the Pelicans, he tried to take advantage.

Cousins was clearing out after a rebound and Plumlee smacked him right in the arm while fighting for the ball. But while Boogie was creating space with his elbows, Denver’s big man went crashing to the ground, ostensibly grimacing in pain and holding his face as if he’d been hit in the grill.

There’s a beauty in instant replay, though, and on second look, not only did Cousins not touch Plumlee, the acting job was awful, too. Here’s another angle:

After the game, a reporter asked Boogie how he keeps his emotions in check when players are going at him on a nightly basis. Cousins, of course, indirectly took a shot at Plumlee.

“It kinda sucks,” he said. “The competitive spirit of basketball is slowly leaking out. Taking pride in 1-on-1 defense is slowly leaking out. It’s more about selling calls and flopping. So you just gotta kinda ignore the B.S. and play your game.”

Shoutout to the referees for doing their due diligence and not giving him a flagrant foul based on his reputation. And another shoutout to Boogie, for doubling down on his status as the only player in the league to post 36 points and 16 rebounds in a game this season.