Tuesday, the NBA Board of Governors officially implemented two new rule changes for the 2023-24 NBA season, according to Shams Charania.
One rule states that a second coach’s challenge will be awarded if the first challenge is successful, something that was not a thing previously in the NBA. For the vast majority of fans, that is a good rule change.
The second rule states that a technical free throw will be awarded to the opposing team as a punishment for flopping. This rule has some mixed opinions – and Clutch Player of the Year De’Aaron Fox has taken to Twitter to voice his opposition.
Lol yeah refs needed more power https://t.co/fXCv9t0jpY
— De'Aaron Fox (@swipathefox) July 12, 2023
Fox sarcastically says here that NBA referees need more power – something the NBA has struggled with over recent seasons. Some people might say initially “This is a good rule change, if you finally get punished for flopping, it will stop it!”
While these people are correct, it would be good if that happened, there have already been cases of this not being correctly applied in the NBA Summer League – where the rule is currently being tested.
In the clip below, you can see the player getting hit in the face and having a very normal reaction to that, but he still gets penalized for a flop:
https://twitter.com/espnnba/status/1676753614285549571?s=46&t=IgxhW89aYDSdjmoJ6vWbbg
This rule is good in concept but needs to be finely outlined before it is implemented. Technical fouls have punishments – resulting in suspensions and fines for players, as was also pointed out by Fox. While flopping is certainly a problem, there will be numerous genuine reactions to plays that will be called flops and penalize a team for nothing.
Fox said here what he thinks should be done instead of a technical free throw being awarded for flopping:
https://twitter.com/swipathefox/status/1678931706101878789
Once again, the flopping rule in concept is a good idea, but it is difficult to accurately enforce. Should this rule have been implemented? Right now, it’s too early to tell. We will have to see what happens next season and how the referees decide to call these fouls. One thing is for sure though – De’Aaron Fox is against it.
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