About this time last year, NBA fans and, probably, NBA officials were trying to make heads or tails about the league's new flopping rules and how exactly the league would go about enforcing this new standard and rule.
What was a flop? How would officials determine what a flop was? How would the league office review such flops?
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There certainly was a lot of talk about the new rules as the NBA sought to get rid of a part of the game that had become detestable to many fans.
The first year of flopping fines was met with some confusion but little progress. Flopping still occurred despite stiff monetary penalties and there was no going back to the game to take away any fouls drawn from a flop or anything. It was an imperfect system, but the best one David Stern could think of.
And, admittedly, it did not work.
So how do we fix it?
Noted NBA scribe David Aldridge has his own idea:
The rule should be changed so any time that a defensive player falls flat on his back immediately upon contact from an offensive player, the officials will not call any foul.
This might be an extreme example. It would almost completely eliminate the charge. It takes away much of the discretion from referees. That seems like what people want.
What would work is probably something more akin to the international rules regarding flopping. There, it is completely in the referees discretion to determine a flop has occurred. Then the referee can issue a warning or a technical foul for egregious flopping.
The point is not that the flopper gets penalized, but that the referees do not get fooled by flopping and make incorrect calls.
Ever since rules were put in place, people have tried to find their way around it. This rule is no different. Players will continue to try to skirt around it and find an advantage. No rule will change that.
How do we solve flopping? That is still something the NBA is chasing.
