A time and a place to flop? Apparently so in the Playoffs

Before the start of the now-concluding NBA season, Commissioner David Stern announced new ‘combative’ measures to deter players from intentionally flopping during a game.

The rules stated that any player found flopping in-game or on reviewed footage would first be issued a warning, followed by a fine of $5,000 which would then increased by the same amount for each successive flop, resulting in a $30,000 fine when flopping for a fifth time. If somebody in the NBA is then stupid enough to try it a sixth time a suspension will be considered.

Statistically, flopping is clearly down from the previous shortened season; but come crunch time, which (millionaire) player out there won’t take a 5K hit to his bank account for the team? They look ridiculous on the replay but when you’re a professional living in the moment, you do anything to help your team’s chance of winning.

Prior to the Eastern Conference semi-finals last year Pacers’ coach, Frank Vogel, called the Heat ‘the biggest floppers in the NBA’. Some choice words he was fined $15,000 for, a penalty you’d incur through flopping four times this season.

Vogel may not have put up his argument in a professional way but it served as the tip of the iceberg and prompted Stern to come out and make changes; changes that were welcomed by everyone.

Without a lock-out to endure we got under way on time this season and with the new rules in place there was always going to be the dubious honour of who was going to be fined first. On November 21, 2012, Reggie Evans wrote his name into the history books after allegedly flopping. Evans was fined $5,000 after flopping the previous night in the Nets loss to the Lakers (a rare Lakers win at the time) at the Barclays Centre.

2460 regular season games of basketball were played this season and despite a lot of flops still going unnoticed, 24 were spotted, five players received the $5,000 fine of doing it more than once and nobody incurred a higher fine. That meant that once in every 102.4 games, a ‘flop’ was cited.

Come playoff time however and there have already been seven fines (flopping in a playoff game is an automatic $5,000 fine unlike the regular season) in just 78 games, a much higher flop-per-game  ratio, proving that come crunch time the players ignore the rule book to give their team whatever edge possible.

The recent seven game series between Heat and the Pacers showcased one of worst/best (however you look at it) when Lebron and David West had a dual flop which game them both a fine, James had been criticised in the round before against the Bulls by Coach Tom Thibodeau for flopping, but he himself was fined for the accusation. Shortly after the infamous ‘dual-flop’, Lance Stephenson was struck down by a phantom elbow from Ray Allen costing him $5,000.

Maybe flopping shouldn’t be illegal in the first place? Take football (soccer) for example, the Premier League would be a strange sight without a player ‘flopping’ to try and win a free kick or penalty. If the referee sees it there and then, the player is punished, if they don’t see it you can’t (in 99% of cases) be charged retrospectively for the offence if you got away with it on the field.

There are still potentially seven games to play as the Spurs and Heat shoot it out to be crowned the best in the league. If flopping makes any headlines it’ll unlikely be about a Spurs player, but let’s hope it doesn’t steal the spotlight from the two best NBA teams squaring off for the Larry O’Brien Trophy come Thursday night.