Tag: Flopping

Austin Rivers got ejected over a phantom elbow to Lance Stephenson’s face and NBA fans were baffled

Austin Rivers was ejected after officials said a phantom elbow from Lance Stephenson was ruled a “malicious act.” Fans were confused.

Remember back in the day when the NBA fined players for flopping? Yeah, feels like a long time ago, right?

That’s because it has been. The last player to be fined for a flop was Marcus Smart back in 2020. Before that it was Patrick Beverley back in 2019. And those are the only two flopping penalties we’ve seen dished out to players in 6 years. SIX. YEARS.

That should probably change very soon. Because, after what happened in the Nuggets’ game against the Pacers on Wednesday, Lance Stephenson should be getting another fine in the mail soon.

Austin Rivers was ejected for delivering an elbow to Stephenson’s face. Except…he didn’t actually hit Stephenson. He just flopped.

There was literally no contact between the two of them. Stephenson just jerked his head back a bit and it looked like he did. Yet still, somehow, Rivers was ejected from the game after a review. It doesn’t make a ton of sense.

I guess one could argue that maybe Rivers was faking throwing an elbow here to free up some space? Tony Brothers called it a “malicious act.”

Rivers, of course, was incredulous. He even tweeted about it after the game.

Honestly, it’s hard to blame him in this situation. It’s hard to see a malicious act being committed when there was no contact made. It gets especially hard when you consider Stephenson’s history of exaggerating contact — the Pacers still lead the league in flop fines because of him.

NBA fans were so confused by this call.

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This flop from Kentucky DB Brandin Echols is performance art

Flopping stinks but this is great.

Flopping is the absolute worst in sports…until it’s not. Sometimes, flopping is good.

Look, deceiving the officials is always something that should be frowned upon. But it can also pretty funny, though.

Case in point: The flop that Kentucky defensive back Brandin Echols just did against North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl is just pure comedy. He was defending a play when the NC State quarterback threw an incomplete pass. NC State receiver Devin Carter decided to give Echols a shove after the play.

Now, was it a particularly hard shove? No, not at all. It was a good one — don’t get it twisted. But it leans more in the slight mush range than an actual hard push. It was harmless.

Of course, you couldn’t tell that from the way Echols reacted to the play. It was like someone had just knocked him out.

The push (and the flop) were so devastating that his teammates had to resuscitate him. My goodness. What strength Carter must have in those arms.

Not only were this flop and his teammates’ subsequent actions hilarious, but they were also effective. They actually drew a flag on the play.

Listen, flopping is bad. But if you’re flopping like this? You deserve some sort of an award. An Oscar, a grammy, a VMA. Don’t care. Somebody get Echols and his teammates something. They’ve earned it.