Bradley Beal: half man, half fish? Or accomplished flopper?

Marcus Smart got beat at his own game last night.

Bradley Beal with the most athletic flop of all time. pic.twitter.com/4VAO228pk1

— The Crossover (@TheCrossover) May 5, 2017

Of course, if I was talking about basketball plays, I'd have said Smart got beat by himself, with EIGHT turnovers, but since that is not what I am referring to, let's just forget that bit...FOREVER. What I'm talking about is the truly masterful acting of Brad Beal, who flopped more than a brook trout on a fishing boat in arguably the season's most obvious acting on-court. For whatever reason, Beal just up and threw himself on the ground as he chased Isaiah Thomas when Al Horford grazed his side, with no discernible reason as to why he thought this was the moment for such an act, given the absolute shellacking his team was laying on a lackadaisical and dejected Boston Celtics squad.

The virtuoso performance was met with critical acclaim across the Twitterverse, with many adding additional context to highlight the profound impact of his acting:

The Bradley Beal flop was funny, but I almost choked watching the edit from @World_Wide_Wob pic.twitter.com/oVE1NyvzqV

— Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) May 5, 2017

@KristineLeahy what do you think about that Beal flop? #Bradleyseal

— Bryan Rebello (@AGuyRebello) May 5, 2017

"That flop by Beal was the most blatant I've ever seen."

Marcus Smart: "Um, excuse me?"

— Sean Penney (@spenney83) May 5, 2017

Even Al Horford had to applaud Bradley Beal's flop 😂 #Shaqtin pic.twitter.com/h4lyhz9SId

— Shaqtin' a Fool (@shaqtin) May 5, 2017

Perhaps Beal noticed Olympic Gold Medal Swimming champ Michael Phelps in the audience, and was hoping to pay his respects with his best salmon impersonation. The world may never know, but the play was certainly fishy, to say the least.