The NBA tried shaming players into not flopping by releasing video and publicly warning/fining them for the action. That didn’t work, players continue to embellish contact and take other steps to sell calls.
That has led the NBA competition committee to consider something more serious: Technical fouls for flops. So reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources: The NBA’s Competition Committee is discussing potential of in-game penalty for flops that would result in technical foul free throw. Trial is possible at Summer League in July.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 25, 2023
This will be greeted by a chorus of “halleluiah” from NBA fans.
Be careful what you wish for.
It’s smart of the league to try this out at Summer League and, likely, the G-League before considering bringing to the NBA level. There will be kinks to be worked out, particularly regarding video review.
However, the real devil is in the details. What this rule would do is have referees trying to judge intent. What fans often want called a flop — the embellishment of perceived minor contact — is something officials may be slow to penalize because it can be tough to say with certainty whether a player flopped vs. was just off balance when the contact happened, or maybe the contact was legit. The league will set the bar to hand out technicals very high. Also, no way a technical and a free throw is being given for a flop without a video review, and that will slow the game down. The league would like fewer video reviews, not more.
This idea not a panacea.
But it would be welcome if the kinks can be worked out, at least as a deterrent.