NBA to Impose Fines for Flopping: Selling the Call

Earlier this week, at its annual pre-draft camp, the NBA announced to teams that it will begin imposing fines upon players for ‘clear cases’ of flopping in the upcoming 2008/09 season. On Tuesday, in the Orlando meetings, the league showed some of the first tangible examples of its promise to crack down on ‘flopping’ in games.

Just to be clear, ‘flopping’ is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as, “throwing or moving oneself in a heavy, clumsy, or relaxed manner.” In NBA's case, this is exemplified by a player overreacting to some small contact (or even no contact) in the presence of a defender in order to garner a foul.

The NBA has not set a scale for the fines at the present moment, nor has it made any decision regarding escalation of fines for repeat offenders. Additionally, a ruling on possible suspensions for serial floppers has not been given, although there is a significant precedent if such a decision was made. Currently, the NBA suspends a player one game if he obtains 16 technical fouls in the course of the regular season (seven technical fouls in the playoffs), and suspends the player one game every other technical foul thereafter.

Spirited ’selling of the call’ has become a hot topic in recent years, as many foreign players have brought their style of play into the league. Fans have expressed their increasing displeasure in calls being given to players who flop, especially when the call has a significant bearing on the outcome of the game.

Yet, it is hard to predict what kind of impact this decision will have on the NBA. The current structure is one that places a lot of authority, and subsequently responsibility, on the referee. The league expects the right calls to be made in each situation, but realizes the inevitability of human error. When a player feigns contact and puts on an elaborate show to sell the call, the referee’s first instinct is to blow the whistle.

Fortunately, this fine system does not detriment the authority of the game officials, but rather the players themselves. Flopping certainly diminishes the credibility of a player and changes the outcome of games, so action must be taken. Fining the players is an adequate penalty, exemplifying the league’s expectation of fair play.

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