This was David Stern back in June at the start of the NBA Finals, when asked about the league’s flopping policy of reviews, warnings, then $5,000 and escalating fines:
“It isn’t enough. It isn’t enough. You’re not going to cause somebody to stop it for $5,000 when the average player’s salary is $5.5 million. And anyone who thought that was going to happen was allowing hope to prevail over reason.”
That’s what we were all thinking. So we were going to see a change right?
Nope.
The NBA owners (in their Board of Governor’s meeting in Las Vegas) voted to continue the flopping policy and fines as is for another season. This was Stern (who works for the owners, remember) on Thursday after the BOG meeting.
“There was a report on our flopping rules and the competition committee thought they were working well and didn’t recommend any changes to them,” Stern said.
Okay then. Apparently somebody thought that worked last season so we are going to get another round of it.
Stern also talked about how there was some discussion of ways to speed up the replay process. What that could mean is by next playoffs there will be a fourth official at the desk to handle replay, and eventually the NBA could go to an NHL-like system where a central office makes all the video replay calls (that process is generally quicker than the NBA’s current system).
“It’s always something that’s a tradeoff, but we really want to get it right,” Stern said.
While flopping system of penalties stays the same, there are a number of other replay and rule changes for next season:
• Replay can now be used with wider latitude on block/charge plays — before referees could only use it to determine whether a defender was inside or outside the restricted area, now officials can reverse a charge call, or uphold a blocking call at the same time. Meaning they can call a block, look at the video and change the call to a charge.
• Replay also now can be used to determine whether an off-ball foul occurred before or after a player has started his shooting motion on a successful shot attempt, or before or after the ball was released on a throw-in.
• Finally with replay, if a referee is looking at one call and sees an unsportsmanlike, flagrant penalty that was not called, he can now make that call.
• One new rule says if an offensive player “leaves the floor and does not immediately return to the floor” (providing he is not injured or something) his team will give up possession.
• Stern also spoke on the impact of new CBA on free agent movement.
“There’s a little bit more free agent movement than we had under the old agreement, and that is something we projected and expected, because there’s more player sharing as teams under the cap acquire players and as teams who are up against the tax level or above it find themselves making harder decisions about what players are necessary to retain or not.”
He said this makes the league more competitive.
• Stern said he expects there to be approved testing of HGH for players once the league and union discuss the issue. However, right now the union leadership is shifting so things are stalled.
