NBA Testing New Flopping Rule During Summer League Games

Players and teams found guilty of the practice will suffer in-game consequences.

Flopping has long been a subject of debate in NBA circles, with various rules to combat the practice being introduced and tweaked over the course of the past quarter-century.

This summer, the league is amending its flopping rules once again to include its toughest in-game penalty yet for the transgression.

In the NBA Summer League, a rule will be tested whereby a flopping call will result in the opposing team receiving one free throw and the ball. The player guilty of flopping will be assessed with a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul.

The league formally announced the changes in a release Tuesday afternoon, three days before the formal start of Summer League play in Las Vegas.

The proposed In-Game Flopping Penalty will be in effect on a provisional basis for all 2023 NBA summer leagues. pic.twitter.com/eqdJ5gHr7d

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) July 4, 2023

In addition to the penalties, the referee will not necessarily have to stop play to call a flopping violation. “They can wait until the next neutral opportunity” to halt the action, according to the release.

The NBA has had rules against flopping since 1997, and fines for flopping violations were introduced in 2013. The Las Vegas Summer League will tip off Friday afternoon, with the Pelicans taking on the Timberwolves.