Dirk Nowitzki Calls New Flopping Penalties ‘a Bunch of Crap’

The newly-announced financial penalties for NBA players that the League deems to have flopped are an understandably divisive issue. Despite the players’ approval of the new rules – no matter how wildly misguided that may be – there has been pushback. The union has filed a grievance against the NBA, Blake Griffin painted the penalties as little more than a cash grab, and now Dirk Nowitzki has some colorful language to explain his feelings on the matter. Per the Dallas Morning News: “I never looked at myself as a big flopper,’ Nowitzki said. ‘If you play me physical then, obviously, I got to sell the call and get to the (free-throw) line. That’s just part of the game. We’ll have to see how they enforce that. I think it’s a bunch of crap to be honest with you. Are they going to come back after a game and fine you for flopping? That’s tough to do to me.’ Commissioner David Stern, in Europe for the NBA’s preseason-opening games, was at the Mavericks’ appearance to dedicate an outdoor basketball court at an east Berlin playground and he defended the league’s decision to start getting tough on acting jobs. […] ‘Actually, many players have said, that’s great,’ Stern said about the reaction he’s gotten so far. ‘Now we can make the game about basketball talent rather than acting talent. I think the players association has a different perspective. I guess they like acting. But we think we have the greatest athletes in the world playing at a very high pace and they should be rewarded for that great play and they shouldn’t cause the game to be decided on anything other than their basketball merits.’”