The NBA’s continuing drive to eliminate flopping from the game continued this past Monday when four different players were warned about flopping: the Spurs’ Patty Mills, Bucks’ Zaza Pachulia and ‘Wolves’ Kevin Love and Corey Brewer were all given an initial warning. A second violation from any of the four will result in the first fine of $5000.
The NBA’s decision to implement the flopping policy has always given us pause. That’s because in a game that’s so physical, assessing the veracity of a player’s reaction to contact can be challenging and rife with misinterpretation. Even with the new measures, David Stern has said the new policy “isn’t enough,” to curb the practice, but no measures have been put in place to augment the original stratagem.
A flop, according to the NBA, is “any physical act that, following review, reasonably appears to be intended to cause the game officials to call a foul on another player.” The “primary factor” in determining whether a player has flopped being whether “a player’s physical reaction to contact with another player is inconsistent with what would reasonably be expected given the force or direction of the contact.”
Here are the four plays in question, but John Wall has already been warned for one committed earlier this season:
LOVE:
BREWER:
ZAZA:
PATTY:
Here is the progression of fines:
First Violation: Warning
Second: $5,000 fine
Third: $10,000 fine
Fourth: $15,000 fine
Fifth: $30,000 fine
Sixth: Subject to discipline reasonable under the circumstances, including an increased fine and/or suspension
Via Sports Illustrated‘s The Point Forward:
“The NBA assigned 24 flopping violations to 19 different players on 13 different teams during the 2012-13 regular season. Five players received two infractions each, earning fines totaling $25,000, with zero players getting dinged three or more times.”
[Gifs via BTB]
What do you think of the flop warnings
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