Andrew Buller-Russ
Have you ever watched an NBA game and felt a player overreacted to a bit of contact? Of course you have, and you’re not the only one who has witnessed athletes often become actors in the heat of the moment.
The NBA has a flopping problem. Only now, the league hopes they can say they had a flopping problem thanks to some new changes to the NBA rulebook.
Tuesday’s PR release from the league unveiled the in-game flopping penalty put in place for the 2023-24 season, approved by the NBA Board of Governors. As you can imagine, defining what is or isn’t a flop can be difficult to determine. Here’s how the in-game flopping penalty works.
Breaking down the NBA’s new in-game flopping penalty
When an official calls a flop, or a “physical act that reasonably appears to be intended to cause the officials to call a foul on another player,” the flopper will be charged with a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul. The opposing team will then have one free throw attempt, which any player already on the floor may take. Players will not be ejected for flopping violations.
Referees won’t have to pause the action to call a flopping foul. Officials will instead wait for the next dead ball to apply the penalty. Both a foul and a flopping violation may occur on the same play. Flops will not be subject to a coach’s challenge, yet refs can call a flop after reviewing a challenged replay.
The league office can also assess a flop after the game has concluded. In this case, fines would start at $2,000, increasing for repeating penalties. Flops called during the game will not result in a fine.
While this big change could have a massive impact leaguewide, the flopping penalty is only being implemented on a one-year trial. This gives the league a chance to review the rule change after a full year of play, including the postseason.
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NBA expands usage of coach’s challenges
The in-game flopping penalty be a big adjustment for the players, but on the bright side, coaches will now have more opportunities to take a second look at key calls throughout the game.
Instead of being allowed one coach’s challenge per game, coaches will now be allowed up to two. They will only gain the ability to challenge two plays if their first attempt is successful, similar to the NFL.
To challenge a play, coaches must take a timeout to pause the action, giving refs a chance to review. Teams must have a timeout to use a challenge, but that is not a new change. If coaches win the first challenge, they keep the timeout. If they win the second challenge, they don’t get to keep the timeout due to “length and game flow.”
Both rule changes were unanimously agreed upon by the NBA Competition Committee, which features a mix of players, representatives, coaches, team governors, basketball executives, and referees. Needless to say, the NBA will look a bit different next season, but these changes sound pretty encouraging.
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