The flop. It’s a growing tactic in the National Basketball Association. Some call it “selling” while others call it an embarrassment to the game.
Recently, Dallas Mavericks star forward Dirk Nowitzki said flopping is here to stay, according to ESPN.com.
"We're never going to get rid of it," Nowitzki said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News. "But you got to limit it. It's part of sports. It's part of winning. Some people are smart and do a little extra thing to kind of sell the call. To me, that's part of sports."
Nowitzki said he doesn’t want to totally wipe out flopping.
"You don't want the obvious ones, the really, really bad one. I think we'd love to get rid of those." said the former Finals MVP according to the Texas newspaper. "But if somebody really does get shoved or hit a little bit, just to sell it a little for the referees so it does get the call, I don't have a problem with that. I think that's part of the game."
Nowitzki’s boss and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants to take a closer look at flopping. So, he’s partnered with Southern Methodist University—handing them $100,000—to do a study on the tactic.
SMU’s Peter G. Weyand, a biomechanics expert, said the point of the study is to analyze the forces that go into “typical basketball collisions,” reported CBS News.
According to an SMU blog:
The researchers will look at how much force is required to cause a legitimate loss of balance. They'll also examine to what extent players can influence the critical level of force via balance and body control. They will also explore techniques by which the forces involved in collisions might be estimated from video or other motion capture techniques.
The research findings could conceivably contribute to video reviews of flopping and the subsequent assignment of fines, Weyand said. “It may be possible to enhance video reviews by adding a scientific element, but we won't know this until we have the data from this study in hand.”
This season, NBA Commissioner David Stern and the NBA have been fining players $5,000 if the league deems they have flopped. Recently, Stern said he wants to end the tactic for all—and thinks the current fine isn’t good enough.
"It isn't enough," Stern explained. "You're not going to cause somebody to stop it for $5,000 when the average player's salary is $5.5 million."
Stern said the NBA has the “data” to end flopping but he is not certain the league has the “stomach” to do what it takes.
