NBA Implements Flopping Penalty, Expands Coach’s Challenges in Rule Updates

The NBA announced on Tuesday that team owners have unanimously approved rule changes for the upcoming season, including the implementation of an in-game flopping penalty and an expansion of the coach’s video replay challenge.

The changes, recommended by the NBA’s Competition Committee, which comprises players, coaches, referees, club owners, team executives, and representatives from the National Basketball Players Association, aim to address issues related to flopping and enhance the effectiveness of the coach’s challenge system.

Under the new flopping rule, which will be implemented on a trial basis for one season, players who are called for a flop by a game official will be issued a technical foul, while the opposing team will be awarded one free throw attempt.

However, a player will not be ejected from the game for flopping violations. Referees will not interrupt play to make a flopping call, allowing offensive teams to continue until the next natural stoppage.

Referees now have the authority to call both a foul and a flopping violation on the same play. While flopping violations are not subject to review under a coach’s challenge, they can be called during a referee’s replay review triggered by a coach’s challenge or a referee-initiated replay review for specific types of called fouls.

Post-game fines for flopping will be adjusted to match technical fouls, starting at $2,000 and escalating for repeat offenders.

Additionally, the coach’s challenge system has been expanded to allow teams a second challenge if their initial challenge is successful. Nevertheless, teams still need to use a timeout to trigger a challenge, and they cannot challenge without an available timeout.

While teams can retain their timeout after a successful first challenge, the timeout used for a second challenge will not be preserved, regardless of its outcome.

These rule changes aim to improve the integrity and fairness of NBA games while ensuring a more efficient and accurate officiating process.