Flopping — dramatically overacting in order to draw foul calls — has been part of NBA basketball for decades. The league has had enough and will start cracking down on floppers in the 2012-2013 season. The penalties for flopping will be:
- Flop 1: Warning
- Flop 2: $5,000 fine
- Flop 3: $10,000 fine
- Flop 4: $15,000 fine
- Flop 5: $30,000 fine
- Flop 6: Possible suspension
The NBA’s official definition for flopping is, “Any physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player.” Due to the subjective nature of the act, it will be a reviewable offense similar to flagrant fouls. The league has the right to review flopping calls in order to upgrade or downgrade them.
As a fan of the late ’80s Detroit Pistons, I can’t say too much about flopping since those teams featured The Godflopper, Bill Laimbeer. I’m totally hypocritical when it comes to flopping; I love when it’s done by a player that I like and hate it when it’s done by a player that I loathe. Some basketball fans believe that it’s nothing more than cheating. Others believe that it’s a clever art form. Either way, it involves fooling the referees in order to get a foul call.
To poke some fun at RPadholic Iceman, I will jokingly question whether the Miami Heat would have won a championship if these flopping rules were in place last year. LeBron James is probably the best player in league history that’s also known as a serial flopper. 70 percent of Shane Battier’s game is flopping. Would the Heat have been as good without their deceptive acting?
How do you feel about flopping? Is it a clever ploy or cheap cheating? What do you think of the NBA’s new rules? Please leave a comment and share you stance on flopping in the NBA (please!).
What about your boy Scola? He’s a very European flopper.
The amnesty clause absolves him of everything he has ever done in the league.
Pretty sure Ginobli will be suspended.
Poke all you want, they still would have won even if the flopping rules were in effect. Shane’s 3-point threats didn’t come because he fell, it was because he was accurate from the 3-point line. That said; I don’t like it when LeBron flops. I hate it when other people do it, and I hate when he does it because I would rather him drive to the basket and try to draw the foul WHILE making a layup, not falling on your ass and looking like a drama queen (king). I think I am in the minority, though. It seems to me that most fans hate it when their team gets called foul for their opponent’s flops, but like it when one of their players gets a couple of free throws because they took a dive. I find that incredibly hypocritical.
Still, there is something about flopping penalties that don’t sit well with me. It’s like now you are asking the refs to be judging like X-factor judges (based on performance). That seems kind of wrong to me. There is enough technical stuff for the refs to be watching for instead of seeing who took the biggest hard-wood swan dive.
The best way to address the problem of flopping is to ignore it. If the refs don’t call it, players won’t do it. In fact, the reason players do it is because it is somewhat effective at getting a foul call. Train the refs better to not call fouls on flops and the problem will go away. Sure, it’s not 100% fool-proof, but at least if this happens, it will make the player think twice about throwing themselves on the floor and possibly give the other team a fast break.
-M