When Adam Silver says he has no problem with flopping, the path for winning in the NBA becomes very clear.
When NBA commissioner Adam Silver joined the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN, I was ecstatic. Thrilled at the prospect of McAfee lining up the barrel of his questionnaire directly at the source, the Western Conference Finals have put the NBA's most glaring issues on display for the basketball world to observe.
So Silver's timing couldn't be more perfect. With the ball placed on the tee, McAfee asked the NBA's commissioner the exact question everyone wanted to hear.
"Flopping? Big conversation, mister commissioner."
"And it's been a conversation," Silver replied. "I would only say that there's a difference between selling a call and a true flop, which is where you're actually fooling the referee."
"Players may be falling down, players may be reacting to a call, but to me, if they're not fooling the referees, okay. The players are taught to sell calls these days."
Hearing the head of professional basketball's chain of command insist that because players are coached to embellish contact, flopping is acceptable, makes my skin crawl.
In essence, Silver suggests that acting is not only acceptable, but encourageable so long as the player isn't attempting to deceive the officials.
With this in mind, the natural step for the Utah Jazz, and every team hoping to compete in the 2027 playoffs, is to follow the example of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the reigning champions.
Keyonte George grew very adept at drawing fouls in his third season in Utah. The Jazz should look into adding more personnel with contact magnetism and explosive reactions.
AJ Dybantsa led college basketball in free throw attempts as a freshman at BYU, thanks to a combination of his unique skill set and knowledge of the rulebook. Perhaps trading up for a player with Dybantsa's foul-selling repertoire is worth the price, and should be encouraged to "sell contact" on every possession.
I say this all tongue-in-cheek, of course, because Adam Silver's indifference to the ugly issue drawing the outrage of 29 fanbases doesn't mean the NBA has no plans to address flopping.
But SGA won his second league MVP this season with a playstyle that relies heavily on drawing fouls and magnifying the impact of defensive contact. Oklahoma City, as a team, is selling contact at an infuriating rate against San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals.
If that's what it takes to compete for a championship in today's NBA -- if this is the blueprint of a title contender -- the Utah Jazz would be fools to avoid that style of play, no matter the PR nightmare that awaits them.
Utah's name has been through a lot; they can handle the scorn of a flopping scandal.
