NBA Refs Allowing Foul-Baiting is Hurting Basketball

For years, basketball players who look to force fouls on offense have plagued fans with disdain. Most memorably, James Harden used to be an all-time great when it came to drawing fouls.

Players will flail their arms, yell, drive into a defender, and draw a whistle from the referee. Fans worldwide follow up by discussing, posting, complaining, and calling for action against these unethical practices.

Most recently, the world saw the NBA’s MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, draw some egregious whistles in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Timberwolves by forcing his way into players and appearing to be fouled.

The outrage on social media has been notable. When in the spotlight, it’s hard to hide this blemish that the league enables in its stars.

However, this critique on fouling is by no means a slander on SGA. As the classic phrase goes, ‘don’t hate the player, hate the game’. And there’s a lot to hate about what the NBA’s approach to fouls does to the game.

A Short History

SGA’s foul antics are not the first of their kind. We’ve seen this become a big trend with players throughout the years. James Harden led the league in free throws attempted for six straight years.

Just a few years ago, the NBA implemented an ‘anti-flopping’ violation, which stated that referees can whistle players for a flop on the spot, and that said players could be fined after the game, regardless of whether their flop was called or not.

You would think that such a simple rule would deter players from flopping, but still, the league struggles with foul-baiting.

Given the lack of enforcement, it appears that the league has simply given up trying to punish flopping. To an average fan, it seems that the league is too far gone — they’d have to fine too big an amount of players.

Back in 2021, the NBA implemented a rule change to punish unnatural movements that are made to draw fouls.

There’s clearly rules in place to stop this behavior. There’s players that have been called for flops before. They have the ability to deter these actions.

The biggest problem isn’t the NBA’s MVP flopping on a national stage.

It’s the fact that it works.

Official Misconduct

In order to curb this foul-baiting trend, the referees need to step up.

Sure, they have a really hard job as is, but this is an area that warrants a lot of criticism from the sports world.

Any player will flop and foul-bait as long as it gets them easy points in a game. Why wouldn’t you?

The referees are enabling this behavior that ruins the viewing experience. If they simply crack down on these types of calls, they’re sending players to the line a lot less, and would be fostering a healthier game.

The Effects

Officials have been prone to making questionable calls when it comes to technical fouls.