As it does every season, the NBA has a few new points of emphasis for officials to focus on, something reporters were briefed on this week.
Flopping is back on the agenda, it’s a point of emphasis. Nobody is happier about it than Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, who said this, via Jon Krawczynski at The Athletic.
“Hopefully the league cleans up this crap, because nobody wants to watch it,” Finch said Wednesday. “That’s what they said was the feedback from the fans. They’re tired of watching the flopping. And we know that it’s been rewarded at too high a level, so just stop rewarding the flopping.”
The league knows what flopping is when it sees it, they just have to call it.
“We have a really strong definition of what a flop is — it’s secondary theatrical exaggerated movements (STEM),” said Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s head of referee development and training, when speaking to reporters this week. Definition or not, enforcement of that has been inconsistent (at best) in recent years.
There is nobody in favor of flopping. Where it gets tricky for officials is that embellishment — something not as dramatic as a flop — is legal. For example, a player driving the ball and snapping his head back to embellish any contact is not flopping. It has to be more theatrical than that. Also worth noting, just because a player sits down after a contested corner 3 doesn’t mean it’s a flop or foul either.
There are other points of emphasis for officials as well.
See below for Part 1 of the 2026-27 Points of Emphasis video (narrated by SVP, Head of Referee Development and Training Monty McCutchen), which provides examples and guidance regarding Off-Arm Push Offs by Offensive Players and Freedom of Movement – Screens: pic.twitter.com/zMMmOK3Kxq
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) September 29, 2026
• Off-arm push-offs by offensive player. This has become a growing issue in recent years, with high-profile players — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaylen Brown, James Harden — singled out by fans and online referees for pushing off with their off arm. In the NBA’s view, a ballhandler can use his off arm to feel for an opponent and be firm to hold a space, but if there is force used by the arm — particularly a push-off — to create space, the focus is to make that an offensive foul call. McCutchen admitted referees haven’t been as consistent or as focused on that as they should have been in recent years.
It’s a tough line for officials to draw.
“We have players that are going to live on the line where 10 times that they have the ball, they’re going to be feeling and firming [with their off arm, which is legal] during a game, and three times during the game they may have full extension or have force,” McCutchen said. “You’re not allowed to call it because of the name on the back of their jersey.”
McCutchen added this could tie into flopping, with defenders exaggerating and selling contact from a player’s off-arm in hopes of drawing a call.
• Pushes by screen setters. There was a rise in guys setting legal screens last season, then pushing/shoving the guy trying to get over the screen to create space. The league wants those called.
