NBA: Flopping, challenge rules changed by Board of Governors

FILE – Head coach Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets argues with referee John Goble #10 during the fourth quarter against the Miami Heat in Game Two of the 2023 NBA Finals at Ball Arena on June 04, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP

LAS VEGAS — Upon review, coaches will have more chances to ask for reviews.

The NBA’s Board of Governors approved two rule changes for the coming season Tuesday — one to give coaches a second challenge if their first one is successful, the other being a technical foul for flopping.

The challenge rule change is something that coaches have wanted for some time. Coaches who challenge a call and are successful will get the chance to make a second challenge — with one catch. Teams must have a timeout in order to call for a challenge; that timeout would not be retained even if a coach won that first challenge.

Players who flop — or are called for committing “a physical act that reasonably appears to be intended to cause the officials to call a foul on another player,” the league said — will be given a non-unsportsmanlike technical, which will not count as a personal foul or lead to ejection. But it will give the opposing team a free throw and could lead to a possession change, depending on when it is called.

Officials can choose to stop live play to call a flopping violation, or can wait until the next “neutral opportunity” to do so.

Floppers will be fined $2,000, with fines rising incrementally for repeat offenders. The flopping rule will be on a one-year experiment.

Both rule changes first got unanimous recommendation from the NBA’s Competition Committee, composed of players, representatives from the National Basketball Players Association, coaches, governors, team basketball executives and referees.

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