NBA mulls technical fouls for flopping
Referees Robert Hussy and Cheryl Flores and ESPN sports analyst and former NBA player Richard Jefferson talk on the court as Jefferson joins them to officiate the second quarter of a game between the New York Knicks and the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2022 NBA Summer League. Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP
The NBA’s competition committee is considering assessing technical fouls for obvious flops and might try out the in-game penalties during Summer League play, The Athletic reported Thursday.
Currently, the league publicly warns players and/or levies the occasional fine for flops, characterized as players using theatrics to sell a foul to the game officials.
Recently, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr called out the Los Angeles Lakers for flopping in their playoff series, won by the Lakers in six games.
The Lakers went to the foul line 160 times in the series vs. 80 for the Warriors.
“I think, to me, what I’ve learned coaching in FIBA … there’s a flop rule,” Kerr said following Game 4. “If a referee deems a player has flopped, they just call it a technical foul, and it’s pretty penalizing. And so the flopping has basically been eliminated from FIBA, and we have the ability to do the same thing in the NBA if we want.”
