Flopping

TO the initiated, “flopping” has become a famous basketball term since the late 1980s. What exactly is flopping or a flop?
“Flopping” in basketball is described as a physical act by a player that is intended to fool the referees to call a foul, whether charging or not, against a defender even if no physical contact has been made.
Wikipedia has also this description of a “flop”: An intentional fall by a player after little or no physical contact by an opposing player in order to draw a personal foul call by an official against the opponent. The move is sometimes called “acting,” as in “acting as if he was fouled.”
Because it is inherently designed to deceive an official, “flopping” is generally considered to be unsportsmanlike. Nonetheless, it is widely practiced and even perfected by many professional (and locally, even collegiate) players.
Starting the 2012-13 season, the National Basketball Association began fining players guilty of flopping. 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 (no ejection is possible).
In FIBA play, though, the penalty is a technical foul that counts as one of two towards ejection.
In an attempt to minimize “flopping,” the NBA has ruled that 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 NBA 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.
Despite the introduction of the fines, flopping is still prevalent in the NBA today. However, the number of exaggerated falls to the hardwood that fool the referees and fans after each game, has dropped in the past two seasons.
According to league stats, there were 24 flopping incidents among 19 players in 2012-13 that resulted in five fines amounting to $25,000.
In 2013-14, there were 33 flops among 27 players that resulted in six fines amounting to $30,000. The following campaign, the number dropped to 30 among 27 men that resulted in three fines amounting to $15,000.
In 2015-16, only eight flopping acts among eight players were discovered but no single fine was issued.
So far this season (2016-17), no player has been fined for flopping.
Who are the best “floppers” in the NBA?
The list includes Houston’s James Harden, Paul Pierce, Chris Paul and J.J. Redick of the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento’s Matt Barnes, San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili, Golden State’s Anderson Varejao, Brooklyn’s Luis Scola and even The King Lebron James of the reigning NBA titlist Cleveland Cavaliers.