MIAMI (AP) -- The flop epidemic may be over.
Flopping - the art of exaggerated reactions designed to lure undeserved foul calls against an opponent - is not extinct, but the league's crackdown on it seems to have worked. After an average of 30 flops being flagged by the league office with either a warning or a fine in the last three regular seasons, there's been only eight so far this season.
And in February, there were none.
Players are still trying to influence referees, and that won't change. And it's probably fair to say that the NBA might not be as diligent in handing out the flopping warnings as they have been in past seasons.