The NBA’s floppers will have more to contend with this year than the slim possibility of a nominal fine and a few hours of ridicule on social media.
As part of an effort to enhance gameplay, the NBA’s competition committee in July adopted guidelines that enable referees to assess a technical foul to a player who attempts to deceive them into calling a foul. This initiative follows steps to punish “non-basketball plays” — such as foul-baiting by lunging into a defender — and cut down on the number of “take fouls” that interrupt transition scoring opportunities.
Flopping has been an aesthetic scourge for years, and the NBA’s strategy for curbing it has evolved. In 2012, then-commissioner David Stern instituted an anti-flopping program that included the announcement of violations, video distribution of offending plays and escalating fines for repeat offenders. The “naming and shaming” approach made some impact, but the program, which relied on postgame video reviews rather than in-game calls, largely fizzled out after Stern’s 2014 retirement. Last season, the NBA didn’t assess a single flopping fine and only doled out occasional warnings.
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With its new guidelines, the league aims to eliminate the ugliest deceptions while taking care to avoid humiliating the perpetrators. Referees have been armed with the STEM acronym to distinguish “secondary, theatrical and exaggerated movements” that will trigger a technical foul and grant a free throw.
“We are redefining what a flop is so that a flop has a penalty to it,” Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s head of referee development and training, said in a conference call with reporters Thursday. “There’s still going to be embellishment and enhancement that is allowed. We want to get rid of the egregious, overt, over-the-top examples in which NBA players look bad, which have the chance to make NBA refereeing look bad, and which are just bad for the game.”
STEM movements include excessive flailing; traveling a considerable distance after marginal contact; and other unnecessary actions that could injure players. A player won’t be assessed a flopping technical if he snaps his head back after absorbing a bump; falls backward while bracing to take a charge; makes a reflexive action in anticipation of a collision; or lands naturally while shooting or defending.
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As an example, then-Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart defended Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden on the perimeter during the 2022-23 season opener. Harden made minimal contact with Smart before stepping back into a jump shot, leading Smart to launch himself backward, slide into the paint and raise his hands while looking for an offensive foul.
Last year, the officials allowed play to continue without calling an offensive foul on Harden or a defensive foul on Smart. This year, Smart would be assessed a flopping technical foul because his actions fit the STEM criteria.
“The contact and the reaction to that contact is not aligned,” McCutchen explained. “There’s minimal contact followed by an exaggerated, theatrical reaction.”
Smart found himself on the other end of a potential flop during a playoff game between the Celtics and Miami Heat. Dribbling up the court, Smart veered to his left in hopes of drawing a foul on Kyle Lowry, who was pursuing the play from behind. When Smart and Lowry made contact, Lowry exaggerated the collision and took several steps toward the sideline.
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Smart was called for an offensive foul because he initiated the contact. This year, Smart would still receive an offensive foul, but Lowry would also be assessed a flopping technical foul because of his overwrought reaction. In addition to Smart and Lowry, Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, Denver Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and 76ers guard Patrick Beverley were singled out by league officials for flopping violations during Thursday’s conference call.
Importantly, flopping violations will not count toward the two technical fouls that will result in a player’s ejection. A player would still be eligible to play if he received a technical foul for a flop and a second technical foul for arguing with an official about the flop ruling. A player could also continue playing if he received multiple technical fouls for flopping in the same game.
To signal a flop, a referee will touch his shoulder and, in some cases, allow play to continue. In the case of Smart’s flop on Harden, Boston’s defense would have gained an advantage if the whistle was blown immediately because Harden would have been denied an open shot. If the same play occurred this season, the referees would allow play to continue until a dead ball, a made shot or another situation in which neither team held a clear advantage.
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NBA coaches, who will get to utilize a second challenge if their first challenge is successful this season, won’t be able to challenge flop calls. If the referees miss a flop call, the league can retroactively issue a fine, which will start at $2,000 apiece for the first five violations.
While the league’s referees have reviewed more than 200 example plays to pinpoint what constitutes a flop, the league’s narrow definition of STEM contact is unlikely to produce a rash of flopping technical fouls. The NBA’s hope is that the immediate punishment of a free throw will be sufficient incentive to limit the worst offenses. McCutchen pointed to a steep drop in transition take fouls as evidence that players can adapt quickly to rule changes: There were only around 200 such calls when enhanced penalties were added for the 2022-23 campaign, down from roughly 1,800 in the previous season.
“We’re not going out here to punish or embarrass people,” McCutchen said. “We just want this part of the game to disappear. The competition committee made it very clear to us that we didn’t want to parade to the free throw line for 20 of these [flops] per game. We want to get the big ones, the clear ones, that are an embarrassment to the competition. If we do that, we think this is a pretty good middle ground.”
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