Letters to the Editor
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It's already a judgment call
michaeljb said: "The better question is, what is the alternative? Do we really need to give refs one more judgement call on something like that, with a technical foul shot and the ball in the balance? As ugly as it is, right now when Bell (for example) goes to the floor on what seems like a flop, the ref feels like he has to call something (because a player went down hard) and it's a 50/50 proposition as to who gets the foul called on them. As flawed as that is, it seems far preferable to a new rule that awards a technical, forcing the ref to once again make a judgement call on whether it was a flop or not."
The ref already has to decide if a player flops/exaggerates contact, but he does not have any recourse to punish the flopper besides not making the call in his favor. Those who flail during jumpshots (Reggie Miller, J. J. Redick) or fall backwards at the slightest contact from an offensive player (Ginobli, Bell, Vlade, etc.) are willing to risk not getting the call because the downside risk is far outstripped by the reward of getting the call. Giving the refs the option of applying an negative outcome to a player's attempted deception seems like a good solution to me, and it seems to work very well in the soccer that I am able to watch.
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stop disrespecting raja bell!
I agree flopping is out of control in the NBA, but I think King missed the main point about Raja Bell: he's a loser! Did anyone catch when Bell said at half-time he felt he was being "disrespected" by "those guys"? First of all, no one was disrespecting him, they just said the obvious things you would say about someone coming back from an injury sooner than expected. Second of all, "those guys" were Barkley and Magic. Both those guys have accomplished more in their professional careers than Bell has at similar points AND will ever! Bell said he was just "emotional" later, but usually you mean that against your competition, not people watching (and hyping) you!
What's really annoying about Bell's constant feelings about not being respected is not that he isn't some premier player (he's not even in the top three on his team), but flopping is a fundamental part of his game. Someone else mentioned his defense and flopping against Kobe, but they didn't talk about the role it played in him getting suspended. After Bell complained to the refees about Kobe elbowing him, Jackson yelled from the bench that he "f--kin deserved it" (because of Bell's play). The next Laker possession he clotheslined Kobe, yelled back at Jackson, got kicked out and suspended for the next game. Real professional.
It was AFTER being suspended he said all that stuff about Kobe being arrogant and pompus. All that might be true, but it has nothing to do with playing the game. Raja "you're pompus for not respecting my so-called defense" Bell PHYSICALLY attacks another player because of a predictable outcome to his play, and people like Magic, Barkley, and Kobe deserve to be called out by him?! I his flopping has to do with deeper psychological feelings of low self-esteem. The NBA should require frequent flopping transgressors to attend several hours of thearpy, that could solve the problem.
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No mentioning hockey ...
King's mentor David Stern will be displeased.