NBA Fines Derek Fisher for Debatable Flop Against Houston Rockets

Derek Fisher feels Kevin Martin's pain.

Per NBA.com, the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard has been fined $5,000 for this flopping masterpiece against the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of their first-round postseason bout.

As Omer Asik defers to Patrick Beverley for a wide-open three, he barrels into Oklahoma City's Fisher and Martin. Or rather, he appears to.

Though he does make contact with Martin, he barely even nudges Fisher. Any of us who have watched Fisher over the years know that it doesn't take excessive contact—or any contact at all—to send him flying. His nonexistent dust-up with Asik proved to be no exception.

If you ask me, Asik's contact with Martin didn't warrant him hitting the floor, either. Houston's big man barely grazed either of these two. It was a double-flop, if you will.

It seems Fisher's wallet will be the only one taking a hit, though. Or maybe they'll split it; it's only fair.

Should we even go on the assumption that the hit Martin absorbed legitimately caused him to hit the hardwood, we're still at a loss of words for Fisher. Was it a "my pain is your pain" type of logic, where any hurt inflicted upon his teammates affects him as well? And if not, what exactly was he thinking? Surely he could have sold this better than he did.

At least it's only five grand, though. Marco Belinelli was fined $15,000 for the gesture he made in the Chicago Bulls' Game 7 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. And if you ask me, this (and flopping in general) is worse.

Belinelli was simply exaggerating the size of the jockstrap he wears after doing something constructive (burying a three); Fisher forced a foul upon the innocent Asik, which could have changed the outcome of the game in the grand scheme of things (it didn't).

But hey, this is what the Thunder have Fisher for—to knock down big-time threes and goad unsuspecting opponents into foul trouble.

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