Denver Nuggets Starter Gets Fined by NBA

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The NBA has been handing out fines and technical fouls for flopping violations this season, and Denver Nuggets starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is one of the latest offenders. The NBA announced on Monday that Caldwell-Pope has been fined $2,000 for flopping in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to the Houston Rockets:
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was assessed a Flopping fine of $2,000 for this play last night in Houston. pic.twitter.com/1KzYq9ThWz
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) November 13, 2023
The officiating crew actually rewarded Pope for his acting job in real time, as Dillon Brooks was given an offensive foul on the play, but the league has since admitted that Pope flopped. Since this report from the league is not part of their Last Two Minute Report, there is no explanation on whether or not this play was still called correctly despite Pope exaggerating the contact, but they have concluded that the Nuggets forward violated the flopping policy.
As previously mentioned, cracking down on flopping has been a point of emphasis for the NBA this season. Players are not only being fined after games are reviewed, but they are also being assessed technical fouls during games if officials determine they flopped. This is not something that used to happen, but the league wants to protect the integrity of the game as much and possible, and realized flopping was getting out of hand on offense and defense.
For Pope, he will have to pay $2,000 for his latest violation vs. the Rockets.
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Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.