LeBron, SGA, and the issue of Flopping in the NBA

The commonly discussed issue of flopping in the NBA has resurfaced recently online after the recent stellar acting performances from LeBron James and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, respectively. Despite the NBA implementing anti-flopping rules, in a desperate attempt to so solve this years-long issue, we are seeing more flopping and “foul-baiting” than ever before. In fact, this last week's events have perfectly showed the evolution of flopping in the NBA, showcasing the old and the new “styles”. This is an issue that is an absolute killer for fans. Nobody wants to watch these multimillionaire players flop around like idiots. We pay to watch physical Basketball played by grown men. There have been so many posts on Social Media from disgruntled former fans saying that this element is what made them stop watching the league entirely.

The Old Guard of Flopping

Let’s start with the elephant in the room, Lebron James. “The King” has been flopping since he was drafted into the league in 2003. His catalogue of flops goes as far back as you can imagine and features some of the most egregious flops in the history of the NBA and in sports itself. The frequency of such “plays” has only increased as LeBron has gotten older, and it's pretty embarrassing. We have all seen these clips, like his flop against the Pacers in 2013 and his literal dive against the Raptors after getting “hit” by his teammate, that somehow resulted in a Raptors technical foul. As much as LeBron apologists would like to scrub these clips off the internet, they still live on.

This behavior is simply not befitting for the face of the league or especially “The Goat”. Funnily enough, posts on Social Media have gone viral, saying that this type of behavior disqualifies LeBron from being considered the greatest. While I wouldn’t make that argument myself, you have to be honest that they have a point. The greatest of all time should not be cheating to get foul calls at 40 years old. It’s just kind of embarrassing. Michael Jordan would have never done this, and we know this because you cannot find a comparable clip from Jordan’s entire career. This type of flopping is the flopping that has existed for a long time in the league: a sort of desperate attempt to win offensive fouls, technical fouls, or when in a tight situation that you need to get out of. Embarrassing, yes; however, this type of flopping is not what ruins games, believe it or not.

MODERN FLOPPING

What is more concerning is the new age of flopping that we’ve entered in these last few years. The proverbial MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, has become the poster child for this new form of flopping called "foul-baiting". Of course, basketball players have baited fouls forever, but what SGA and others have been getting away with is a step too far for most fans. Drawing contact is a skill, but this nonsense where players play for fouls is getting ridiculous. Look at this clip of SGA from last night against the Nuggets.

Look how he shamelessly jumps into Westbrook, who is just standing there, and wins the foul. Similar plays have happened, but the commonality of SGA doing these types of plays is what has social media sentiment against him and against him winning the MVP. The fans are tired of watching this. It discredits how great players like SGA, Luka, and others actually are because these are plays that stick out, especially in the world of social media. SGA’s 33 pts per game are effectively erased when clips of these egregious plays go viral online. The NBA promised that their new rules would put an end to such behavior, but this has simply not been the case. Can anybody even remember the last flop technical foul that has been awarded? The referees are literally too scared to assess these fouls to the biggest stars in the league, who are the ones engaging in flopping to begin with.

Under Adam Silver, the issue of flopping has just gotten worse and worse, and the league as a whole softer and softer. Silver should have resigned many years ago due to a myriad of issues, and this one just shows his incompetence as a commissioner. Do you want to fix flopping? How about actually enforcing your rules? Players like SGA, Luka, LeBron, and many others should be getting flopping technical fouls every single game. If that was happening, you would see this issue disappear rather quickly, especially in the playoffs, where such flops could cost games. It’s not a hard fix, and it’s a damn shame that the comsisioner of the NBA is so inept.