Miami

Miami Heat have eye on NBA crackdown on flopping violations


LAS VEGAS – If the NBA has its way, Kyle Lowry will remain upright far more often this season.

Either that, or there will be a price to pay for the veteran Miami Heat veteran guard, assuming he remains with the team once the Damian Lillard dust settles.

In an attempt to remove theatrics from the game, the NBA has instituted a harsher anti-flopping rule on an experimental basis for the coming season. Embellish in an attempt to draw a foul and it’s a technical foul and free throw for the opposition.

“It is going to change the game significantly,” Caron Butler, the Heat’s summer-league coach, said, “because it’s a lot of guys that get away with those things.”

Starting with Lowry, not that Butler was naming names.

The Heat already have gotten a taste of the rule during summer league, benefiting from a call on what could otherwise have been ruled a push off on forward Nikola Jovic, but also penalized for what officials perceived as a bid by forward Jamal Cain to draw a foul while converting a 3-pointer.

Video review is not an automatic part of the process, leading to a degree of consternation with referees having to make such judgements in real time. Previously, an after-the-fact fine was issued after league video review, often days later.



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