Flopping is ruining the NBA and LeBron should take some blame for that

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The NBA has had a flopping issue for years and I believe much of the discourse we have seen during this year's playoffs, especially between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers is due, in large part, to the league refusing to properly enforce these rules and because its most well-known player made flopping mainstream.

After their Game 7 loss in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics' guard Jaylen Brown said while streaming, "Flopping has ruined our game," while calling out former MVP Joel Embiid specifically. 

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After Game 2 between the Thunder and Lakers, which was full of flops once again, Austin Reaves and the entire Lakers team confronted the officials after their 18-point loss. Much of the discussion following the game is about flopping and supposed favorable whistles for the Thunder. 

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ESPN's Jay Williams said, "..the flopping. The foul baiting. The constant manipulation of angles and officiating at times feels less like basketball and more like a legal hustle," while discussing the issue on his social media.

Kendrick Perkins, while on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday discussing the Lakers Thunder aftermath, stated, "I hated the way that game was called last night and there was a lot of flopping going on." Perkins continued, "The NBA has to get back to fining guys for flopping." Here's the problem: The NBA hasn't done a great job of that in the first place.

The NBA recognized that flopping was an issue over a decade ago. It was ruining the watchability and integrity of the game. Other leagues like the NHL had embellishment penalties, which help stifle the ability to get a cheap power play. NBA players were abusing the system and getting cheap free throws and affecting the flow and outcome of games. The league decided to introduce postgame flop fines in the 2012-13 season where plays were reviewed after games and those individuals were fined for exaggerating contact. 

Since those fines were introduced through the anti-flopping rule, there has been a shockingly low number of fines. Reports and Spotrac tracking say the total number of publicly documented postgame flopping fines since 2012 is likely somewhere around 100-120 total violations league-wide, including warnings and fines. That's only 7-8 warnings and fines per season. We see about seven to eight flops per quarter, it seems like.

As for in-game flopping calls, those are exponentially more rare than post game warnings and fines. The NBA does not maintain a fully public official archive of every flopping technical, so most of the data was compiled by independent NBA technical foul trackers and community-maintained logs, which states that approximately 26 in-game flopping technical fouls during the 2023-24 season - the first year of the new live flop-tech rule. Since the first few months of that season, enforcement dropped dramatically, which became a major criticism around the league and online. The NBA later made the rule permanent in July 2024 despite the low call frequency. The only clearly documented 2025-26 flopping fine I could find in SpoTrac's database was Malik Monk, who was fined $2,000 for flopping on Dec. 1, 2025.

Adam Silver has been gentle parenting the league's players for far too long. The officials and the league are refusing to call these technicals in game and clearly have little intention to enforce these rules, so players face consequences for their actions. The inmates are running the asylum. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who ESPN's Doris Burke has called a "free throw merchant" will continue to manipulate the system, as will many of the league's top stars if the league continues down this road. It's dominating the discussion in-game and online. Silver needs to address this in the offseason and ensure players, teams, media and fans that the league will be making the proper changes and live up to the rules they implemented because they really aren't rules to these players anymore. They're guidelines. It's basically a weak threat by a parent that just ends up giving in to what their child wants. The players have the league wrapped around their fingers. That's a problem. 

It's common knowledge that LeBron James has been a flopper throughout his career. I even wrote a piece that called him The King (of Flopping) and discussed how it has not only tainted his Hall of Fame career, but set a bad example for other players, who have obviously followed suit. James might not have been the first serial flopper in the modern NBA, but i do believe he's the one that mainstreamed it. 

Did you know that James has only been fined ONE TIME for flopping? That's it. I can see your face right now. You're shocked, but maybe some of you are thinking that's not too far fetched. Many of the league's best players, in every major pro sports league, get a free pass more than others and a favorable whistle. Lakers head coach J.J. Redick claiming, "LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I've ever seen" after game 2 vs OKC, is a ridiculous, unfounded, emotionally-blind statement. We can discuss that at another time, though.

I firmly believe that flopping is a form of cheating, or at the very least, cheating the game in some form of its integrity, flow and watchability. I've made that point clear (hopefully). James even admitted he's flopping on purpose during the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, where he and Pacers' David West were fined for doing so. "Some guys have been doing it for years, just trying to get an advantage," James said. "Anyway you can get an advantage over the opponent to help your team win, so be it." LeBron was pulling what SGA and OKC have been doing for over a decade. He set the standard. He became the poster boy before Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, SGA, Jalen Brunson and many others who are some of the league's most egregious floppers, were even in the league. That's why I believe he deserves some blame for the mess that the league finds itself in. He didn't set the rules, but I believe he set the standard.

Let's face the facts. The NBA has been rewarding this style of play and the players know the fines and discipline isn't coming, especially for the league's top stars. It's the main complaint from fans and it's dominating the discourse in this year's playoffs.

The league has been allowing this for far too long. Lay down the law. Drop the hammer. Enough is enough. If not, the league's reputation will only get worse and fans will be less interested in watching and celebrating the league's best team (Thunder).