The NBA’s renewed emphasis might miss the point. The league responded to fans and coaches’ demands with a new crackdown on flopping. However, their approach has sparked sharp criticism after Tuesday’s Lakers-Blazers game. Two prominent head coaches are taking issue not with the rule itself, but with how officials are enforcing it.
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Following a contentious sequence between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers that saw three flopping technical fouls called in a span of about 90 seconds of game clock, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr voiced shared frustration over the NBA’s interpretation of ‘flopping.’
Finch spearheaded the criticism prior to Wednesday night’s matchup against the Warriors, asserting that league officials are misinterpreting fan frustration by focusing heavily on defensive movement rather than offensive baiting.
“Well, here’s what my take on it… I was all for the league cleaning up flopping, you know, when I heard they were going to do it… Unfortunately, I think the league has their own definition of what a flop is, which is needed but confusing when you feel like you see a flop; everyone kind of knows what it is. It doesn’t really need to be overly explained,” Finch told reporters. “I think where they got it wrong is all these flops are coming on the defense, and that’s not what the people want out of the game. They want the flops on the offensive players out of the game. You know, the league was very intentional about saying the fans didn’t want to see flopping, but that’s not the flopping. They don’t care if a defender spills down and shouts. What they care is that the offensive players are baiting the game and falling down and getting unnecessary free throws. That’s what they care about because that’s not really in the spirit of what anyone wants to tune in and watch. So I feel like all these flops on the defense are just, at the moment they’re probably just overemphasizing. But the ones on the offense, I think they have to be addressed.”
Finch’s sentiments were relayed to Kerr on the visitor side of Target Center and he agreed with his fellow coach. In fact, he went a step further with an unfiltered assessment of the officiating system.
“It’s interesting. I think everybody’s trying to figure out what’s a flop, what’s not,” Kerr said. “The league made it a point of emphasis, but it seems to be only on certain actions.”
Reacting directly to Finch’s remarks, Kerr delivered his signature bluntness on the matter, “You know my take on the NBA. We should be the No Bulls— Association. That’s another way to say it. Every bit of bulls— that a player tries to pull, we should say, ‘No, no, we’re not doing that.’ It’s a better game when guys aren’t flopping, guys aren’t grabbing and hooking each other or running into screens and looking like they got hit by a car. It’s just a better game when officials have the ability to say, ‘No, we’re not buying into that.’ I feel like we are constantly as a league behind the players. The players are grifting, and we’re chasing them, and we’re never getting ahead of them. That’s my biggest issue with it.”
The frustration expressed by both head coaches stems directly from officiating sequences that have left players and coaching staffs searching for consistency.
In Portland’s 136–129 win over Los Angeles, Trail Blazers players Ja Morant and Toumani Camara, along with Lakers wing Ziaire Williams, were all assessed flopping technicals during the fourth quarter while playing defense. Camara and Morant both stated postgame that they plan to appeal the $2,000 fines, noting that absorbing legitimate offensive contact was being penalized as embellishment.
Williams, who had already been assessed a retroactive flopping fine for a previous game against the Jazz and said beforehand, “If I gotta flop again to get a win, then that’s what I’ll do,” disputed the Blazers call and indicated he might appeal it as well.
For Kerr and the Warriors, the issue hit a breaking point during the recent loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Dubs were whistled for an estimated six illegal screens, including a game-deciding call on Draymond Green, which Kerr attributed to defensive acting jobs. Kerr has previously submitted video to the league office on officiating issues.
While Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s senior vice president of referee development and training, designated flopping as a major focus for the officiating heading into the season, both Kerr and Finch maintain that until the league addresses offensive foul-baiting, the crackdown will continue to create unnecessary disruption on the floor.