Seek [insert your least favorite NBA player here]the flop is about to have a real cost.
The NBA Board of Governors has approved a rule change that will make the flop a technical foul for the 2023-24 season, the league announced Tuesday, a result of growing fan and team frustrations with players going out of their way. to sell contacts.
The change will come on a one-year trial basis.
Specifically, when a playing official calls a flop, defined by the NBA as “a physical act that appears reasonably intended to cause the officials to call a foul on another player”, the offending player will be charged with a technical foul. not unsportsmanlike. foul and give the other team a free throw attempt.
Due to the nature of the technical foul, a player will not be ejected from a game due to flop violations. Referees also won’t have to stop play to call a flop, as they can wait until the next stoppage to hit a player with the penalty.
The NBA specifically notes that it is possible for officials to call both a foul and a flop on the same play.
The league has also instituted a change that will give coaches a second challenge if their first challenge is successful.
The flop was previously punished with a warning, then fines ranging from $5,000 to $30,000. Such punishments were rare. Fines will change now that the flop is a technology, as they will be rolled into existing fines for technical fouls instead.
The NBA was already experimenting with this system in the Summer League. Lester Quinones of the Golden State Warriors was the first player to feel the effect, getting called for a flop during a break in play.