Unfortunately, flopping has been a part of basketball and a part of the NBA for years. It’s an act that has always been frowned upon and players who frequently used this cowardly tactic have always been chastised, yet it seems every year we see more and more players use flopping as a way to trick officials into calling a foul on an opposing player.
This year, the NBA even introduced an anti-flopping rule accompanied with fines as a solution, but alas, the flopping epidemic continues, as we saw in last night’s Eastern Conference Finals game four between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. Just check out the disgraceful GIF above, which shows LeBron James and David West engaged in the rare “Doubleflop.”
As expected, the NBA doled out $5,000 fines for both James and West. Though you could say the money is chump change for these guys, the real motivator not to flop should be pride. Interestingly, James claimed that he was not a flopper earlier this week, but did say that he understands how it can be a good strategy.
“Some guys have been doing it for years, just trying to get an advantage,” James said Monday, according to ESPN.com. “Any way you can get an advantage over the opponent to help your team win, so be it.”
Oddly enough, but certainly not surprisingly, there was another flop during the game that incurred a $5,000 fine. This one occurred in the first quarter, when Indiana’s Lance Stephenson overreacted to a minimal amount of contact from Miami’s Ray Allen. Luckily, we’ve got a GIF of that one too. Check it out below:
Let’s face it folks, flopping is not going away. Let’s just enjoy the theatrics and the drama that is the NBA playoffs. The Heat and Pacers are still playing a fantastic series and if we are being honest, we’d say the flopping is pretty entertaining.
Now, we’ve got two questions for you: 1. Which team will take game five? and 2. Which team will flop the most in game five? Let us know with the below poll!