Lebron and West FINED for Flopping in Game 4

[fairweatherfan]

I think the bigger penalty is being called out for flopping.  LeBron didn't get any actual call on the play so there was no advantage gained, and now the league has publicly labeled him a flopper.  If he continues to do it he'll never feel the fines, but it'll start to become a running joke, especially with his comments about never flopping.  If he's concerned about his brand - and he is - this is something he'd want to avoid.

That said I'd like to see them add a points system to flopping like they do with flagrants - enough flopping and you're suspended a game.  That will definitely make any player close to the line think twice.

[sed522002]

I think the bigger penalty is being called out for flopping.  LeBron didn't get any actual call on the play so there was no advantage gained, and now the league has publicly labeled him a flopper.  If he continues to do it he'll never feel the fines, but it'll start to become a running joke, especially with his comments about never flopping.  If he's concerned about his brand - and he is - this is something he'd want to avoid.

That said I'd like to see them add a points system to flopping like they do with flagrants - enough flopping and you're suspended a game.  That will definitely make any player close to the line think twice.

Exactly, the money  doesn't mean anything but it's more about the public "shame" of it. Especially when you proclaim to never flop and to not even know how to do it.

[Emmette Bryant]

[quote author=Boris Badenov
I think the best way to handle it is exactly the opposite: let them play and don't call anything. Once Shane Battier realizes that his man is going to get an open layup every time he flops, he will stop doing it.
[/quote]

TP for you.  Whatever happened to the no call?

[Boris Badenov]

I think the bigger penalty is being called out for flopping.  LeBron didn't get any actual call on the play so there was no advantage gained, and now the league has publicly labeled him a flopper.  If he continues to do it he'll never feel the fines, but it'll start to become a running joke, especially with his comments about never flopping.  If he's concerned about his brand - and he is - this is something he'd want to avoid.

That said I'd like to see them add a points system to flopping like they do with flagrants - enough flopping and you're suspended a game.  That will definitely make any player close to the line think twice.

Good point about the reputation effect. If nothing else we've learned that Lebron cares what other people think about him.

I don't like the penalty system where it kicks in like flagrants or techs. Each violation should matter equally. And, it's too easy to set the bar so that it's either (a) really penalizing no one other than the Rasheed Wallaces of the world, or (b) unfairly penalizing some legit plays/guys.

[fairweatherfan]

I don't like the penalty system where it kicks in like flagrants or techs. Each violation should matter equally. And, it's too easy to set the bar so that it's either (a) really penalizing no one other than the Rasheed Wallaces of the world, or (b) unfairly penalizing some legit plays/guys.

I like it as a deterrent for repeat offenders, I'd hope it never actually came up and just scared players away from the behavior.  The flagrant "points" setup seems to discourage players with multiple flagrants from risking another, although flagrants are kind of a different animal from flopping.

...and I actually just found out to my surprise that the flopping scale allows a suspension "at league discretion" after a 5th violation.  Nobody'll ever get there but it looks like there's some form of the system already in place.

[edwardjkasche]

I find it decidedly par-the-course for the NBA to fine TWO Pacers for every ONE Heat.

[D.o.s.]

I didn't see that coming. Right in conjunction with LeBron fouling out. Weird time for the refs and the league to start paying attention to his play, unless they're being goaded into looking unbiased after that ridiculous 24 second call.

Not that I believe that, necessarily, but they have successfully changed the conversation.

[SHAQATTACK]

LeBron is a horrible flopper,  his acting makes me want to laugh as much as cry foul.


he runs around , all over the court , limping, holding his head , shaking and wincing to let ALL THE TV cameras BE SURE to get a good look at the suffering /and pain he is in.

He'll never make the WWF wrestling league.

Last years flops against the knicks was an utter joke.  It was Harlem Globetrotter comical  it was so bad.

I'm surprised the refs can keep a straight face watching all the antics of faking pain going on out there.

CP3 is also a poor actor of faking his flops


Stern is to blame totally , with letting MJ get away with getting every touch call and protecting players to the point the contact becomes fake.

[CelticConcourse]

shane battier must be laughing so hard right now at these amateurs

TP

Still think West was only on the brink of a fine, he did seem to be tripped up but the upper body movement was selling it a bit too far.

The flop from Lebron was laughable but not as much as fining someone $5,000 (up to $30k for repeat offenders, pfft) who makes $40,000,000+ a year. Flops should be treated more harshly than Tech Fouls, it needs to change almost as much as the officiating. It takes 5 caught flops to even face suspension...what a joke.

I agree about the penalty being pretty irrelevant (particularly in the playoffs).

But the question is, do you want to turn in-game control of identifying flops and assigning penalties like techs, or something even more severe, to the same set of referees we've all been saying are so horrible for the last several days?

I think the best way to handle it is exactly the opposite: let them play and don't call anything. Once Shane Battier realizes that his man is going to get an open layup every time he flops, he will stop doing it.

We'd like that to happen, but it's just unrealistic. Refs have to make split-second decisions and everybody hates "late-calls". It's too hard to detect a flop on the spot, so I believe a suspension oughta be made after fine 2 or 3.

[CelticsFan9]

shane battier must be laughing so hard right now at these amateurs

TP

Still think West was only on the brink of a fine, he did seem to be tripped up but the upper body movement was selling it a bit too far.

The flop from Lebron was laughable but not as much as fining someone $5,000 (up to $30k for repeat offenders, pfft) who makes $40,000,000+ a year. Flops should be treated more harshly than Tech Fouls, it needs to change almost as much as the officiating. It takes 5 caught flops to even face suspension...what a joke.

I agree about the penalty being pretty irrelevant (particularly in the playoffs).

But the question is, do you want to turn in-game control of identifying flops and assigning penalties like techs, or something even more severe, to the same set of referees we've all been saying are so horrible for the last several days?

I think the best way to handle it is exactly the opposite: let them play and don't call anything. Once Shane Battier realizes that his man is going to get an open layup every time he flops, he will stop doing it.

We'd like that to happen, but it's just unrealistic. Refs have to make split-second decisions and everybody hates "late-calls". It's too hard to detect a flop on the spot, so I believe a suspension oughta be made after fine 2 or 3.

Spot-on.

I find it very sad that players have now mastered flopping to such a degree that it actually looks like they're getting fouled.  I mean, you'll see a blatant flop every now and then, but it's gotten to the point where I watch some plays and think they're fouls, but upon watching replay it's a flop.

[CelticG1]

A flop can still warrant a foul on the offending player but over embellishing to the degree where you flop should warrant a tech.

I don't think that should be THAT hard to call. These are usually pretty obvious to the naked eye.

[nickagneta]

I think the bigger penalty is being called out for flopping. 

It might be bigger but its still close to nothing. $5000-$50000 fines for people making $10-20 million a year is the equivalent to nothing, especially when the league is paying the players extra for playing in the playoffs. As for being labeled a flopper, what does Lebron or anyone else care about that? The man has already done an half hour television special to announce his free agent signing and had a pep rally to announce his arrival in Miami. He's had much, much more serious PR problems than being called a flopper.

Seriously, this whole anti flopping policy has zero teeth. Want to enforce a rule, give the punishment teeth and a bite. The NBA has more serious penalties for sitting players who they expect to play on national TV, for making hand signs, and tapping a ref during a timeout while telling him a joke than they do for flopping and ruining the game.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

This is a travesty! How dare they fine Mr. LeBron... don't they know he NEVER flops? I mean, the clear explanation was that the wind in a closed arena blew him over! The wind is a fan of the Pacers, I can see it why not the NBA??

[Celtics4ever]

Trouble is this time of year there is more scrunity.   Regular season this would never happen.

It's harder to sell a flop when your built like a Tiger Tank.

Call me when LeBron gets a "T " for whining.  Everybody else does or maybe call traveling for all the players the same.   David Stern is a great for business, the league has grown globally but the game is a joke under his tenure.

[fairweatherfan]

Call me when LeBron gets a "T " for whining.  Everybody else does or maybe call traveling for all the players the same.   David Stern is a great for business, the league has grown globally but the game is a joke under his tenure.

He also got a T for whining in Game 4.  I would've called but I don't have your number so I'm posting it here.