“And the Academy Award goes to …” has long been an often used term by TV and radio commentators alike when referencing the way an NBA player will try to convince an official that he was fouled by “flopping” unnecessarily. Until this year, that is. Last month the NBA announced that it would be instituting a new anti-flopping rule to help cut down on the number of poor acting performances this season.
According to an official statement released by the NBA on Oct. 3, “flopping” is defined as “any physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player.” The league’s statement goes on to say that the biggest factor in deciding whether or not a player flopped will be if “his physical reaction…is consistent with what would be reasonably expected…”
The penalty for violating the anti-flopping rule is a warning for the first violation, a $5,000 fine for the second and increasing fines for each violation after that. All instances in which a player appears to flop will be reviewed by an NBA appointed committee to determine whether or not a player is guilty of flopping.
And wouldn’t ya know it, less than a week into the new season the first warnings for flopping were handed out by the league. Minnesota Timberwolves guard J.J. Barea and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donald Sloan were the first players to ever be disciplined by the NBA for flopping.
Just a couple of weeks later, Brooklyn Nets forward Reggie Evans was the first player to be fined under the new rule. So it appears that the NBA is serious about cutting flopping out of the game. Or are they?
It has long been a popularly held view by some fans and members of the media that the NBA tries to protect its star players by not calling fouls on them or calling more fouls on other teams. Saturday, Miami Heat forward Lebron James appeared to flop while attempting to take a charge, but he was not warned by the NBA. Maybe the most recognizable player in the league, James is definitely a star, and some would argue that he received star treatment in this instance. However, having watched the video myself, I think the review committee got this one right.
So will this new anti-flopping rule make a difference in how games are played? It’s not likely, but it should benefit fans from having to watch world class athletes act like circus clowns on the basketball court. In a world where the governing bodies of sports leagues often overstep their bounds and penalize athletes for petty violations, this new rule actually seems like a good idea. Nice job NBA, you made a good call on this one.
