In the NBA, flopping is one of the most controversial moves of the past decade. This tendency to exaggerate or feign contact in order to regain possession has become more prevalent since the rule changes that favor attackers. As a result, the defenders reacted by overplaying the contacts to get a contrary whistle. The difference between a defensive foul and a forced pass is often minute and subject to interpretation. To separate fact from fiction, referees often use video. The NBA had already implemented an anti-flopping policy before the 2012-2013 season. Players received first a warning and then a fine of 5000 30,000 dollars for the following flops. The league now wants to go further, sanctioning the cheating team with a free throw penalty. A new rule that could be tested during the Summer League, announces the journalist Shams Charania.
Flopping returned to center stage after the Warriors vs. Lakers playoff series. Steve Kerr complained about the Californians’ flop attempts. The numbers prove the Golden State coach right, since Los Angeles got twice as many free throws as its opponent: 160 shots against 80 for the Warriors. Asked about it by NBC Sports, Kerr wanted to learn from what FIBA is doing:
Personally what I learned as a coach on FIBA matches is that there is a rule against flopping. If a referee judges that a player has flopped, he simply whistles a technical foul and it is quite penalizing. So the flopping was practically expelled from FIBA. We have the ability to do the same thing in the NBA if we want to. I think we should fix that, because the players are smart. During the regular season, the big game is trying to fool the referees. And it’s been like this for a while. I think we can really do better in terms of cleaning up the flopping.
2023-05-26 08:31:06
#NBA #hunt #flopping
