The NBA had a flopping problem earlier this decade that it tried to solve by fining players $5,000 for each time they flopped after receiving an initial warning.
It didn’t really work. Players kept flopping and still flop to this day. It’s part of the game now and, after a certain point, the league just flat out stopped issuing the fine.
The last player have a fine publicly announced for flopping was Marcus Smart on April 21, 2016 for acting doing his best Jazzy Jeff impression after simply being boxed out by Kyle Korver.
Things were quiet on the flop fining scene until Saturday. Patrick Beverley just took things too far Friday night against James Harden and the Houston Rockets.
He was fined after he acted like James Harden performed an exorcism on him with a jab step.
The concept of fining a player for a flop is a bit much, but you can’t really blame the league for this one. That was ridiculous — even for Beverley’s standards.
This is the first time we’ve seen a flop fine in three years, but it might not be the last time we see it in this year. We’ve got a lot more national television Patrick Beverley left to go this season.
