Flopping in the NBA could result in a technical foul for players during the upcoming season.
The NBA Board of Governors approved a rule change that will make flopping a technical foul for the 2023-24 season, the league announced Tuesday. The league also approved a rule change that gives a team a second coach’s challenge if the first one was successful.
The flopping rule change will be implemented on a one-year trial basis. The rule change is a result of increasing frustration among players, coaches and fans of watching players drop to the floor with minimal or non-existent contact far too often.
According to the NBA, when a game official calls a flop, defined by the league as “a physical act that reasonably appears to be intended to cause the officials to call a foul on another player,” the offending player will be charged with a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul and the opposing team will be awarded one free throw attempt.
Players will not be ejected from a game based on flopping violations. Referees will also not have to interrupt play to call a flop, they can wait until the next stoppage to determine if a player will be assessed a technical foul for flopping. The league noted that referees can also call fouls and flops on the same play.
The NBA has been testing the flopping rule during current summer league games.
