Rockets SG James Harden warned by NBA for flopping

It’s early in the NBA season, and every year, that means that the league’s officials get just a little bit more zealous with the “points of emphasis”. This season, the major point that is frustrating fans everywhere is the new “delay of game” procedure, but last year’s emphasis on flopping also isn’t going away. That point is never more evident than when it crops up against the league’s stars, and that is exactly what happened to Houston’s James Harden.

Harden was given a “flop” warning by the NBA for his actions after being tangled up with Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Wesley Matthews, and frankly, Harden deserved it (as you can see by the only somewhat biased Tweet above from Blazers insider Chris Haynes). The “flopping” rules are historically difficult (read: impossible) to enforce, but Harden is certainly a repeat offender in this regard, and for all intensive purposes, it looked like he flopped on the play.

With one more flop, Harden is set to incur a $5,000 fine, but the league definitely appears more willing to issue warnings than fines, especially with regard to its stars. On the positive side for the Rockets and Harden? At least the defensively-challenged superstar was giving some sort of effort on that end.