The NBA announced Wednesday the details of its anti-flopping policy, which was first reported last week.
Players can now be subjected to fines and, in extreme cases, possibly suspensions for simulating fouls. Flops will be adjudicated during a post-game review.
Here's the league's release.
The NBA will adopt an anti-flopping rule beginning with the 2012-13 season, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations Stu Jackson announced today.
"Flops have no place in our game - they either fool referees into calling undeserved fouls or fool fans into thinking the referees missed a foul call," Jackson said. "Accordingly, both the Board of Governors and the Competition Committee felt strongly that any player who the league determines, following video review, to have committed a flop should - after a warning - be given an automatic penalty."
"Flopping" will be defined as any physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player. The primary factor in determining whether a player committed a flop is whether his physical reaction to contact with another player is inconsistent with what would reasonably be expected given the force or direction of the contact.
Physical acts that constitute legitimate basketball plays (such as moving to a spot in order to draw an offensive foul) and minor physical reactions to contact will not be treated as flops.
Any player who is determined to have committed a flop during the regular season will be subject to the following:
Violation 1: Warning
Violation 2: $5,000 fine
Violation 3: $10,000 fine
Violation 4: $15,000 fine
Violation 5: $30,000 fine
If a player violates the anti-flopping rule six times or more, he will be subject to discipline that is reasonable under the circumstances, including an increased fine and/or suspension.
The league will announce at a later date a separate set of penalties for flopping that will apply during the playoffs.
Reuters reported Wednesday that the National Basketball Players Association protested the NBA's plan, questioning the league's ability to assess fines without agreeing to it through the collective bargaining process.
"The NBA is not permitted to unilaterally impose new economic discipline against the players without first bargaining with the union," NBPA Executive Director Billy Hunter said in a statement. "We believe that any monetary penalty for an act of this type is inappropriate and without precedent in our sport or any other sport."
Thanks to clinchmobb in the FanShots.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter