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NBA must end rash of flopping
SAN ANTONIO
If Jose Canseco is the godfather of steroids, then Vlade Divac is the godfather of flopping. Or maybe it was that das ly Bill Laimbeer.
Whatever, this hideous tactic must be stopped.
Flopping - or exaggerating the effects of physical contact in hopes of drawing a foul on the opponent - is technically a form of cheating. It's more acting than basketball. It's creating an illusion to fool the referees.
It's garbage. It's spineless and wrong. It belongs in professional wrestling. Problem is, it's a central storyline in the Western Conference playoffs, where the Spurs beat the Suns in Game 1 and Shaquille O'Neal claimed, "the floppers prevailed."
"I don't react to players' comments or really anybody's comments," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Monday. "It's like Hillary (Clinton) and Barack (Obama), you know? So and so said this about you. Let's talk about health care and that sort of thing instead of the bull (expletive)."
Fine, O'Neal says a lot of silly things. But he's right about flopping, and he should know, having been targeted by floppers more than any other player in history. (Because of O'Neal's freakish size and strength, opponents can do nothing but resort to cowardly gamesmanship.)
Stone cold serious about the issue, O'Neal wasn't about to back off comments he made after Saturday's game.
"They weren't defending me," O'Neal said. "All they got to do is flop. It's frustrating that the referees don't allow two guys to fight. It's supposed to be two guys fighting, and one guy is out there flopping. A lot of times, I don't do anything. But I guess all you got to do is walk next to me and fall."
Flopping has become such an issue in American basketball that NBA executive Stu Jackson, who oversees the officiating, claimed last season that he was going to research how other leagues handle the most notorious offenders.
Jackson did not return phone calls Monday, but when informed about the flopping charges here in San Antonio, the guy who answered the phone at NBA headquarters said with great sarcasm: "What a surprise."
Overseas, the problem is so insidious that FIBA referees can assess technical fouls on players for flopping, and with more and more foreign-born players inhabiting the NBA, it's easy to see how the product can suffer.
"They come from the soccer culture where they kind of get elbowed and then they get carried off on the stretcher," Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said. "And then they come back a minute later and they're running at full speed. First, you're worried they're going to die. And then you're worried they're going to score three more goals in the game."
Clearly, the Spurs' Manu Ginobili is the Jack Nicholson of flopping, and that's a shame. Ginobili is a marvelous talent with great courage and toughness. A total team player, he accepted less money and a lesser role (sixth man) just to help his team win. As Popovich noted on Monday, "He got over himself a long time ago."
Yet outside San Antonio, Ginobili has tarnished his reputation by being King Flopper, and he will never be appreciated for the great player he is. But it's not just European players who have mastered the art of flopping. It's not just the Spurs, either. And I hate to tell you this, but the Suns have plenty of floppers, too, including the two-time MVP.
"Raja Bell's a flopper, Kurt (Thomas) is a flopper, Ginobili is probably the king of floppers," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "There are levels of flopping. Divac might be the father of flopping. That's gamesmanship . . . you love 'em when you're with them and hate 'em when they're against you. That's normal."
No, normal would be two guys playing basketball, and the best man wins. Instead, flopping rewards inferior players, enrages the victims and makes the officials look stupid. It's why Laimbeer became the most hated athlete in sports, while Dennis Rodman literally learned how to propel himself backward in the air, as if shot out of a cannon. Even great players such as Reggie Miller and John Stockton cheapened their careers through theatrics.
Someone has to put a stop to this. Ever see how NFL referees sneer at punters who lie on the field after flopping? The NBA needs to take the cue, get a clue, and start fining all culprits.
Otherwise, O'Neal may take matters into his own hands, and pity the floppers if that ever happens.
@ the pics.
