Matt Bonner isn’t in favor of new NBA anti-flopping policy

April 26, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner (15) points towards a teammate while standing next to Golden State Warriors center Jeremy Tyler (3) in the second quarter at ORACLE Arena. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

When the NBA instituted a new policy geared to decrease the incentive of flopping, players like Manu Ginobili (rightfully or not) and Chris Paul were likely to be affected.

Matt Bonner, whose free throw rate was the lowest among players who played 40 games and averaged 20 or more minutes and proclivity to prevent committing fouls, didn’t fit the description.

But even Bonner, vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, isn’t a proponent of the new policy, which will punish repeat offenders with escalating fines.

“I don’t think it will hold up,” Bonner said. “If it does, I’m curious what the collateral damage will be. It’s too extreme in my opinion.

“Obviously, flopping isn’t a good thing for the game. The question is, how do you police it? Fining seems a bit extreme, to say the least.”

Instead, Bonner supports FIBA’s flopping policy. Technical fouls are issued for excessive exaggeration rather than thousands of dollars. This is preferable, Bonner believes, because it still condones the act of flopping without delving into the pocket.

Ginobili, on the other hand, doesn’t think flopping will be easy to define. If it isn’t easy to define then it will be diffuclt to punish supposed offenders. This is completely dependent on the subjective judgement of the officials, making it difficult to maintain consistency. (For example: a flop may be overlooked by another officiating crew and penalized on another. Reputations also will play a big part.)

“It’s going to be very hard to determine when it’s a flop and when it’s not,” Ginobili said. “There’s a lot of contact, a lot of heavy players, and it can be tricky. I don’t think (fining players) is going to happen much.”

Flopping, through one way or another, appears to be another issue plaguing the game. The NBA is taking a precautionary route with their new anti-flopping policy. But safe may not always be best as the potential problems resulting from relying on judgement, which isn’t perfect, could cause a national uproar.

The NBAPA will reportedly file a grievance against the league to combat the new ruling.

Hat-tip to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.