To flop or not to flop, that is the question? Flopping in soccer has been part of the game for a long time, and it will continue to be as long as it can help gain an advantage. However, contrary to popular belief, the reality is that flopping is not unique to the sport of soccer. It is a part of many sports and I feel that soccer gets an unfair reputation for its flops, as I believe that the worst flopping occurs not in soccer, but in the NBA.
The reason I think the NBA is the worst flopping sport, and far worse than soccer, is that if you watch an NBA game it seems like every single possession there is some variation of acting, complaining about calls, or flopping going on. It sometimes is by both the offense and the defense at the same time. Take a look at this video of two of the worst offenders of flopping in the history of sports, Manu Ginobli and James Harden. They both can’t wait to just fall over, it's pretty awful.
Plays like this stop the game, take time to evaluate and are just completely unnecessary as well as frustrating for everyone. At least in soccer the clock is continuous and when a player flops it doesn’t turn a 2-hour game into a 3-½ hour event because of all the stoppages like some basketball games seem to do.
The other reason why I feel that the NBA is more guilty of flopping is that their best players are some of the biggest floppers. And although there are cases in which Neymar, Ronaldo, and even Messi have flopped, they certainly are nowhere near the worst in their sport. I have already mentioned James Harden, who is considered by most a top 10 player currently, and Manu Ginobli, who some consider the best 6th man ever; but Lebron James, Chris Bosh, Blake Griffin, and Chris Paul are all flop kings. It doesn’t bode well for your league when the biggest stars are some of the biggest offenders.
I will give the NBA some credit in that after each game they can review any situation that may or may not have been a flop and if they determine that it was in fact a flop they can choose to fine that player $5000. But that hasn’t stopped any of the players I’ve seen, and most certainly hasn't made them change their ways.
Here are three of my “favorite”, and most ridiculous, flops from the NBA
#1 - Tony Allen
#2 - Chris Bosh
#3 - Lance Stephenson
Now I’m not saying that soccer doesn’t have its fair share of ridiculous flops as well, it surely does. What I am saying is that the perception of flopping is in fact skewed to make the casual fan believe that it is far worse in soccer. For some fans, all they see is a clip on Sportscenter of some guy rolling around on the field in pain after not being touched. So then those same fans say stupid comments like, “see this is why I don’t like soccer. They all flop!” But some of those same individuals are perfectly fine watching a basketball game or football game where players embellish time and time again in the exact same manner.
Yes, soccer has a flopping problem. Yes, it is annoying to us as soccer fans and it is up to the referees to not fall for the flops, but it is not the only sport that has them. And although it is an unfortunate part of an otherwise perfect sport, if you compare the percentage of "plays" in a soccer match to the number of flopping occurrences, I would be willing to bet that percentage is lower than an NBA game.
