Under new rule, Warriors’ Lester Quinones receives NBA’s first technical foul for flopping
Golden State Warriors forward Lester Quinones became the first player in NBA history to receive a technical foul for flopping Monday in a 100-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Day 1 of the California Classic.
The in-game penalty for flopping will be in effect for all 2023 summer league games and will be implemented for the 2023-24 NBA regular season on a one-year trial basis.
“I won’t lie, I didn’t read the whole summer league rule book,” Kings assistant and summer league head coach Luke Loucks said. “Our assistant coaches did a good job of reading through that, so they let me know right before the game of a couple new rules that I’m not used to, and that was one of them.”
If a flopping penalty is assessed by game officials, the opposing team will be awarded one free throw and possession of the ball. A player who commits a flop will be assessed a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul, which does not count as a personal foul or lead to an ejection. Officials will not be required to stop live play to call a flopping violation. They can wait until the next neutral opportunity to stop play.
Quinones was called for flopping with 6:26 remaining in the fourth quarter. Kings guard Jordan Ford, a former Folsom High School star, made the ensuing free throw to put the Kings up by five after the Warriors had cut a 14-point deficit to one.
“I don’t know if Lester got fouled or not, but I know he sold it and it was a good sell,” Loucks said. “I thought he got fouled, but I was yelling at the top of my lungs, ‘Flop,’ right behind the ref. I didn’t think he heard me and I didn’t think he saw it, and I didn’t realize that you can go back and call it the flop rule at the next dead ball, which is what the ref did, so all these things with the rules, I think it’s a good time for the league to experiment.
“Whether I’m for it or against it, I don’t really have an opinion, but I do think it’s pretty cool in these situations, whether it be summer league or the G League, to experiment with any ways you can make the game better, and if this makes the game better, I’m all for it.”
Kings forward Keegan Murray said players will have to adjust to the new rule, but it could be good for the game.
“I feel like it’s kind of a judgement call, in a way, just trying to figure out what’s a flop, what’s not a flop and things like that,” Murray said. “It will take time, obviously, to figure that out, but it’s something I feel like will help us in our game today.”
Kings guard Jordan Ford agreed.
“Honestly, I didn’t know that was going to be a rule until they told us right before the game,” Ford said. “I think it could be a good rule. It will force teams to play straight up and really deter people from trying to flop, which I know a lot of people didn’t like, so I think it will be a good rule for the league.”
