In basketball, a flop is an intentional fall or stagger by a player, after little or no physical contact by an opponent, to induce an official to call a personal foul on the opponent. The move is sometimes called acting, as in "acting as if he were fouled". Because it is inherently designed to deceive the official, flopping is considered unsportsmanlike, but it is widely practiced. The player who commits the act is called a flopper.
Flopping effectively is not easy to do, primarily because drawing contact sometimes results in the opposite effect—a foul called on the defensive player—for making excessive contact or not being in the correct position. Also, if no foul is called on either player, by falling to the floor, the flopper cannot provide further defense, making it easier for the offense to score. To consistently draw offensive fouls on opponents takes body control and practice.
Penalties
In the National Basketball Association (NBA), the penalty for flopping is a technical foul if caught in-game, and a fine if caught after the game in video reviews. The technical foul is a non-unsportsmanlike conduct technical foul (one of six fouls a player may be assessed before disqualification; no ejection is possible). In FIBA play, the penalty is a technical foul that counts as one of two towards ejection.
National Federation of State High School Associations basketball rule 10.6.f of 2012–13 specifically defines "faking being fouled", in the judgment of an official, as unsportsmanlike conduct subject to penalty of a technical foul. However, as there is no in-game access to replay video, this call is rare.
NBA
The NBA ruled in 1997 that the personal foul of charging would not be called once the ball carrier was within 4 feet (1.22 meters) of the basket. This restricted arc is noted with a dashed circle. This rule made it pointless to flop near the basket.
The NBA regulated flopping starting in the 2012–13 season. Any player who flops during the regular season would first be warned, followed by fines in increments of $5,000 for each successive flop during the season. The fines would increase to $30,000 for a fifth offense, when a suspension would also be considered. In the playoffs, players are fined $5,000 for their first flopping offense, $10,000 for a second, $15,000 for a third, and $30,000 for a fourth. Any player who flops five or more times could be suspended. Afterwards, Ramsey was reprimanded in a letter by NBA president Walter Kennedy.
On May 28, 2008, the NBA announced that it would impose fines on players who show a clear case of flopping and suspensions for repeat offenders. However, the league did not impose any fines, but continued to monitor the situation.
NBA player Rasheed Wallace has been critical of flopping in the league. In a 2008 interview, when he was with the Detroit Pistons, he complained that: