With the playoffs set to begin on Saturday morning, the league has announced that there will be new, stricter flopping penalties for the 2013 postseason. According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), the league will fine players for their first flopping offense during the playoffs.
The NBA will fine players $5,000 for a first flopping offense during the playoffs.
The league issued players a warning for a first offense during the regular season, the first time it punished players for trying to fool referees into making calls by exaggerating contact.
The league says Thursday that there were 24 violations during the regular season, with five players getting a $5,000 fine for violating the anti-flopping rule twice.
A second offense in the postseason will bring a $10,000 fine, which increases to $15,000 for a third and $30,000 for a fourth. A player could be suspended if he is ruled to have flopped five or more times.
As stated above, this is a stricter penalty than the league first implemented for use during the regular season. When the rules were first implemented there was some concern from players that the league doesn’t have the ability (or right) to determine whether or not a player was flopping or not.
The league defines flopping as the following;
“Any physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player.”
Seems straight forward enough. Still, players are concerned that the league can’t prove intent, and aren’t exactly looking forward to being fined for something that is left up to the opinion of a league official.
Regardless, these rules will come into play immediately and last for (at least) the duration of this season’s playoffs.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
In case you missed it, be sure to check out what Antawn Jamison said about facing the Spurs without Kobe Bryant!
Don’t forget to click here to subscribe to our Lakers Nation YouTube Channel!
