Jaden Shackelford made the wrong kind of NBA history on Wednesday.
The Oklahoma City Thunder guard became the first NBA player to ever be penalized for flopping in the middle of a game. During Wednesday’s NBA Summer League action, Shackelford was defending Memphis Grizzlies forward Jake LaRavia in the paint and threw his head back in an attempt to draw an offensive foul call. Though LaRavia made the basket, the officials still stopped play and assessed Shackelford a technical foul for the flop.
Check it out.
The one-shot technical for flopping is one of two significant new rule changes set to be formally approved by the NBA Board of Governors. As a result, the violation is now being called in Summer League play before being adopted fully during the 2023-24 NBA season.
Flopping in the NBA has seemingly gotten progressively worse over the years, especially with many players feeling like they need to dramatically embellish contact in order for a referee to blow the whistle. But given some of the truly horrid flail-jobs that we have seen in crucial games, it can only be a good thing that the league is working to officiate flopping out of the game.
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