Flopping has become one of the biggest topics of conversation around the NBA in recent years, and Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton was the latest star to weigh in.
Haliburton believes it’s something that is “being taught” before players even get to the league.
“Yeah for sure, it’s being taught. I don’t think it’s as much head coach teaching as much as it is like player development,” Haliburton said on the Pat McAfee Show. “Even before you get to the NBA, it’s just something you like kind of work on by nature… Even in pickup, they’re working on how they can draw fouls. I think that’s a part of the game.”
Haliburton added that flopping isn’t as much of an issue as players embellishing contact. He said that more often than not, players aren’t just “falling over out of nowhere” but are exaggerating contact to try to draw a whistle.
That kind of behavior has widely become associated with Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s MVP for a second year in a row in 2025-26.
Gilgeous-Alexander was even called out by San Antonio Spurs fans during the Western Conference Finals, as they chanted “flopper” at him during Game 3.
Yahoo Sports’ Tom Haberstroh recently detailed just how often Gilgeous-Alexander attempts to sell a call, reporting that he fell down 20 times on 187 field-goal attempts in which there was no foul called in playoff games this year. Haberstroh’s report also found that Gilgeous-Alexander fell down 51.4 percent of the time when there was a foul called.
While Gilgeous-Alexander might get the most attention from fans for embellishing calls, he’s far from the only player who does it.
It’s become so prevalent that even NBA commissioner Adam Silver weighed in.
“It’s been a conversation,” Silver said on the Pat McAfee Show. “I would only say that there’s a difference between selling a call, exaggeration, and a true flop, which is where you’re actually fooling the referees… The players are taught to sell calls these days. Can officiating get better? Of course, we’re always working on that. Can officials get fooled occasionally? We’re always looking at that as well.”
Silver’s comments seem to indicate that the league is at least taking notice of flopping. Whether serious measures will be taken remains to be seen.
