NBA commissioner Adam Silver says the league will revisit its flopping policy this offseason, with a major rules discussion scheduled around Summer League in Las Vegas.
“When we put the flopping rule in place, there was what I would call egregious flopping,” Silver said, describing the league’s original goal as stopping obvious exaggeration and theatrical contact sales.
He drew a distinction between blatant deception and the way players still try to influence officials on real fouls. “Players are taught to sell the call where there’s actually a foul, but they’re trying to draw the officials’ attention,” Silver said.
The next step will be a detailed review by the NBA competition committee. Silver said the group will meet for two days in Vegas and watch “1,000 plays literally over 2 days” to determine whether the league should move the line on flopping enforcement.
The NBA has spent years trying to balance game flow, officiating consistency, and player safety without stripping away the physical edge that defines playoff basketball. The league’s challenge is not just identifying obvious fake contact, but deciding where legitimate selling ends and punishable flopping begins.
Silver’s comments suggest the issue is no longer whether the league should regulate flopping, but how aggressively it should do so. If the committee believes the current standard is too narrow or too loose, the offseason review could lead to a meaningful adjustment before the next season begins.
