The NBA Releases A Video Demonstrating The Seven Illegal Flops That Will Get Players Fined This Season

The NBA released a video yesterday of all the flops that they officially consider flops now that the NBA is officially considering flops. It has a weird narrator who uses unnecessarily colorful language, which is great. We get a "grossly embellished fall to the floor" from Reggie Evans, an "over-embellished reaction inconsistent with the level of contact" from Tony Parker, other "flops that will be penalized" from Chris Paul, Josh Smith, Danilo Gallinari, and Ryan Hollins, and, happily, the word "flop"—apparently the terminology the NBA is going with—about 50 times in six minutes

Among the revelations, aside from the narrator, are the apaprent illegalization of Dwyane Wade's leg-kick move, the trick upon which Reggie Miller built his entire career, and the implication that officials will determine, after-the-fact, whether a player was faking "an apparent demonstration of injury." (Better start working on those crocodile tears.) A shorter section of non-flops after all the flops makes it seem like it'll be tough for the officials responsible for figuring who's flopping when. At one point, the narrator mentions that a size mismatch will factor into the officials' decision—smaller players get the benefit of the doubt, even though small players can be very prolific floppers. In other places, it's unclear when some embellishment becomes too much, and at no point do they explain the procedure if a foul that's later named a flop decides a game. The NBA seems to have answered our initial question (suspensions come into play after the fifth violation), but it's easy to see the kinks that need to be worked out, and easy to envision the fits that will be thrown in the interim.

Meanwhile:

Although many players welcomed the rule, the National Basketball Players Association announced plans Wednesday to file a grievance with the league office, claiming that it should have been consulted on what amounts to a disciplinary matter. The union will also file a complaint of unfair labor practices to the National Labor Relations Board.

"The N.B.A. is not permitted to unilaterally impose new economic discipline against the players without first bargaining with the union," Billy Hunter, the union's executive director, 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."

Dirk Nowitzki called the new rule "a bunch of crap," but he's one of the few players to disapprove of the new rule (Drew Gooden is another), so the NBA Players Association may rethink their filing once they realize that, whether or not the NBA followed procedure, most NBA players want the rules instituted in some form.

Explanation of Anti-Flopping Rule [NBA.com] N.B.A. Outlines Policy To Try To Stop Flopping [New York Times]