in The Lebanon Reporter
Webster’s Ninth New College Dictionary defines flop as “throwing ones self in a heavy, clumsy…manner”. And forget trapping the ball, isolations or running high pick and rolls, as these NBA Finals unfold the “flop” has leapfrogged its way to becoming the most favored approach for claiming victory; or at the very least getting ones self to the foul line.
Never before in the history of professional basketball has acting played a bigger role in the outcome of games. No right thinking individual will argue that the Miami Heat aren’t supremely talented. But not only do they have three of the best players on Earth, we’ve learned through the course of these playoffs that they are also capable of acting on a level that rivals the WWF during its glory years. In fact if the flopping persists, a championship-less Dallas fan base will be left with no other recourse but to lobby the league to rename Miami’s franchise the ‘Miami Cheat’.
As Americans we’re not unfamiliar with the power of the flop. Whether it be the Edsel or Sarah Palin as the choice to share a Presidential ticket, flops are nothing new. You flop on the bed, you flop on the couch, Donald Trump can flop his hair into place but you’re not supposed to flop your way through the NBA Finals.
At this rate, fans will surely pressure David Stern to green-light plans to have a monument to flopping chiseled in stone. We’ll call it Mt. Flopmore and it shall include the busts of Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and no discussion of flopping would be complete without including the floppingest flopper of them all- Reggie Miller.
ABC commentator Jeff VanGundy has been so embarrassed by the disgusting display of flopping he was moved to call it a “farce” and has opined for a penalty system to be incorporated league-wide in order to prevent them.
Now I am not here to advocate for such a rule change because I lack both the credibility and job title to do so. This is not to say the flop hasn’t become tiresome. It was at one time a quaint occurrence that was, at best, chuckle-worthy (see Laimbeer, Bill). It has morphed however into an invasive species so widespread and unstoppable that it’s choking the life out of the game.
The players cannot wear the blame entirely. Referees should be more vigilant in obvious flop situations (offensive rebounds, loose balls or drives to the basket when the opposition is in the penalty). They also apparently need to brush up on their math for when a 6’8 250 pound LeBron James crashes into a 6’2 180 pound Jason Terry the result should not be James ricocheting off with enough force to spill the drinks of millionaires or crack the foundation of American Airlines Arena.
Despite this scourge of fatalistic flopping, Dallas somehow managed to steal Game 4 after being outplayed for 3 1/2 quarters again. How interesting it was to hear Rick Carlisle imploring his team to “stay the course” heading into Game 4 while he did the complete opposite by changing his starting lineup. This of course is the equivalent of the captain of the Titanic asking everyone to return to their rooms while his crew is busy lowering him to safety in a lifeboat.
And so it is now a best of 3 series and while we’ve been treated to fantastic dunks and amazing shooting from a 7 foot German playing with only 9 fingers, a word to the wise- let not the flop decide the fate of the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
© 2011 Eric Walker Williams
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