LOS ANGELES -- This season is the first that the NBA has entered with the realization (at least publicly) that flopping is a problem, and something that neither fans nor players enjoy seeing as a consistent part of the game.
The league has implemented a system where it will first warn, and then fine players for egregious and embellished displays of physical contact, defined as “any physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player. The primary factor in determining whether a player committed a flop is whether his physical reaction to contact with another player is inconsistent with what would reasonably be expected given the force or direction of the contact.”
In other words, what Reggie Evans can be seen doing here.
Kobe Bryant was asked what he thought about the new rules against flopping, after he posted a triple-double in the Lakers blowout win over the Rockets. Not surprisingly, he is all for it.
“Thank God,” Bryant said. “It doesn’t belong here. We’re grown-ass men, you don’t need to be falling all over the place.”
It was an appropriate question, given this play that went down between Bryant and Houston’s Jeremy Lin midway through the fourth quarter on Sunday.
As for whether or not Lin flopped on the play, Bryant wasn’t sure. But he did seem to think it was possible, given Lin’s smaller stature in relation to his.
“Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I don’t know,” Bryant said. “He’s too little man … he’s too little for me.”