The League’s new flopping rule, that was officially outlined this week, has brought a hailstorm of criticism, some good and plenty bad. Many players, such as Dirk and Blake, have went on record saying the rule is — in my own words — horrible. The feeling is that the rule isn’t clear about which exaggerations are allowed, and those that aren’t.
A player that does like the flopping rule? Kobe Bryant.
Although he mentions he prefers the FIBA rule better, which gives a warning for the first flop and then a technical foul for the next — two free throws and a possession for the opponent — flop.
Nevertheless, Bryant is happy about the new rule and believes flopping is just a chump move.
“I’d love to see it have an impact on the game itself. I think in international play a technical foul is the penalty for it. Free throw and get the ball back, that sort of thing. But I like the rule. Shameless flopping is just a chump move. We’re familiar with it because Vlade (Divac) kind of pioneered it in a playoff series with Shaq (O’Neal). And it worked pretty well for him.”
He added shameless for a reason; every notable — or even above average player — flops. They exaggerate the contact — yell out, flail arms — to garner a call.
Kobe himself does that, but it’s those ridiculous floppers — Reggie Evans comes to mind — that act like were just shot when flopping that drives fans, coaches, critics mad.
Basically, Kobe just called some players a ‘chump’…
Oh, this season is going to be fantastic!
[...] knew Bean would have something interesting to say, here is his quote provided by NBA Mistress. “I’d love to see it have an impact on the game itself. I think in international play a [...]
Flopping has been getting out of hand. My thing is, how do they call a flop? They’re not all flops so how can a ref determine if it’s a flop. What may be a flop to one ref may not be a flop to another. I see lots of fines being recanted/overturned this season. I hope those flopping calls don’t end up messing the game up more than the flopping itself. Some refs are whistle crazy already, like Joey Crawford.