Masai Uijiri and the Flopping Crusade

It’s been a busy start for Masai Uijiri as general manager of the Raptors but now he could be set to take an even more public role when the NBA’s competition committee sits. Al Dannity writes about the role Uijiri could play in today’s meeting.

It’s not like his day job doesn’t bring enough challenges. Masai Uijiri is tasked with retooling a talented but unpolished roster in Toronto. The Raptors GM must take his attention away from such duties briefly for matters that affect the whole league. Since moving to the NBA’s most northerly outpost a few weeks ago, Uijiri has been a member of the competition committee. Two big areas of concern face the NBA as the off-season approaches, both of which affect how the game is played and how fans experience it.

Flopping is the most visible issue facing the NBA right now. The hype around it may get over-played, although not as much as the Bayless-ian tirades from many corners against grunting in women’s Tennis, but it is an issue that needs fixing. Right now the league’s penalty of $5,000 simply isn’t getting the job done. Fans hate it because it looks stupid and players find it disrupts the game or leads to bad fouls being called. The fear is often that the committee might over-reach and no member wants to offend potential free agents by being the one who imposed more sanctions. Uijiri however has the chance to push the committee towards harsher penalties, including suspensions, and frame it as a players-first initiative. Take the dollar amounts of the table, treat flopping with straight up suspensions and players will respect the move. You flop, you still get paid but you’re sitting next time.

The other issue on the table is review of how replay is used. While the impact of replay isn’t as easy to point out, this issue presents just as much concern as flopping. Rhythm and tempo of a game can be disrupted by excessive use but replay also increases the chance of the right call being made. Likewise with viewers, the NBA faces a dilemma over whether it’s right to take longer looking at calls or if people watching TV would rather they just got on with it. While the scorn from the public and personnel will be less than with any action taken over flopping, the challenge in getting this fix right is far more complicated. Any adjustment could have detrimental effects to the NBA coffers if it breaks the wrong way. Uijiri may relish these challenges but he’ll sure be happy once he gets back to his day job in Toronto.