“Actually, many players have said, that’s great,’’ Stern said about the reaction he’s gotten so far. “Now we can make the game about basketball talent rather than acting talent.
“I think the players association has a different perspective. I guess they like acting. But we think we have the greatest athletes in the world playing at a very high pace and they should be rewarded for that great play and they shouldn’t cause the game to be decided on anything other than their basketball merits.’’
—That is David Stern talking the new NBA fines for flopping, via the Dallas Morning News. He is referring to the fact the players union has said it will file a grievence on the flopping fines issue.
Nice, overly-simplistic answer for a not that simple question. The union’s concern is that they were not negotiated with, not really heard on a new fine that impacts their players (the league said they did speak and that it is well within its rights to move forward with this). The union may want to discuss the appeal process, enforcement and more. And we all have questions about enforcement, including NBA owners.
Stern goes on to say the league may error on the side of caution in handing out fines for flopping. They kind of have to, judging things on video the next day. But how much will that help the perception the NBA is flop happy? It’s going to be fun the first time a passionate fan base — let’s say the Knicks — think they got screwed in a game on a flopping call and the league doesn’t come down with a fine.