Sometimes a coach says what everyone else is thinking.

Mike Brown didn't hold back after his Sacramento Kings faced the Oklahoma City Thunder. The veteran coach called out OKC and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for being "the best" at getting officials to think a foul occurred, saying their "gamesmanship is off-the-charts."

Here's the full quote, captured on video: "OKC does a fantastic job, starting with SGA, getting the officials to think a foul has occurred. Their gamesmanship is off-the-charts. Shai's the best at it in the league. Give the whole team credit… they do a great job of exploiting the system in their favor. I tip my hat off to them."

Now, let's break this down. Brown is tipping his cap. He's giving credit. But make no mistake - this is shade. This is a coach publicly saying what a lot of teams think: the Thunder have figured out how to work the refs, and it's giving them an unfair advantage.

Is he wrong? The numbers don't lie. SGA led the league in free throw attempts this season. The Thunder as a team get to the line more than almost anyone. They've mastered the art of initiating contact, of selling calls, of making defenders look like they're fouling when sometimes... they're not.

I've been calling games for 20 years, and I've seen this movie before. James Harden built an MVP campaign on this exact style of play. Dwyane Wade in his prime could get to the line at will. Allen Iverson drew fouls like it was his job - because it was.

But here's the difference: those guys were getting legitimately fouled most of the time. With the Thunder, and especially with SGA, there's a feeling around the league that they're the system. That they're exploiting the rulebook rather than just playing basketball.