Getty Image / Nic Antaya
Over the course of this year’s NBA playoffs, there has been a whole lot of talk about flopping.
It started with Warriors coach Steve Kerr calling out the Lakers for flopping during their series.
LeBron James vehemently denied the accusations, saying that the Lakers have never been a team that flops despite plenty of video evidence of LeBron flopping.
After that dispute over the embellishment tendencies of the Lakers, they continued to put it on display in their series against the Nuggets.
Now it looks like the league has decided they need to do something to address the embellishment issue around the NBA.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the NBA’s Competition Committee is discussing the possibility of assessing technical fouls during games for flopping and could even test it out during the Summer League.
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 is already a rule in college basketball that has seemingly done a decent job of limiting flopping.
However, there are some changes that may be necessary in the NBA to improve the rule if they enact it. In college, it’s not a reviewable call, which leads to some teams taking technicals when their player didn’t actually flop.
Whether or not they choose to make it reviewable, assessing an in-game penalty for flopping is a step the league should definitely be taking.
It has been a major issue in the league for a while now and it has become too easy for players to flop to draw fouls throughout the game.
The league has already taken a step in the right direction for getting calls right with the introduction of the challenge.
This seems like the correct next move for the NBA.