Best Bets For 1st NBA Player To Get Flopping Technical Foul In 2023-24

After years of "basketball turning into soccer", the NBA is finally addressing its flopping problem. The NBA's new rule for 2023-24 would give a technical foul to the team of a player caught flopping. No one serves its clientele better than sportsbooks.

BetOnline.ag, an offshore shop, is taking bets for the 1st NBA player to earn a flopping technical foul. LeBron James is thought of as the most egregious flopper in the NBA.

Because of which, LeBron opened as the odds-on favorite to be the 1st hooper cited for flopping at 7-to-1. However, LeBron isn't the only player guilty of flopping. It's an NBA-wide epidemic.

As of July 25th, Golden State Warriors PF Draymond Green took LeBron's spot as the favorite to be the NBA's 1st flopping violator at +700 odds.

It makes sense Draymond is the favorite to be the 1st NBA player T'd up for flopping. Green's flops have infamously led to him kicking opponents in the nuts and stomping players in the chest.

Furthermore, the NBA will call these violations early and often to make a point to the players. The Warriors are one of the most popular teams in the NBA and may be featured on opening night next season.

That said, Draymond will not pop the Association's "flopping technical" cherry. Instead, one of the other chuckleheads I discuss below will have a better chance to be the 1st caught for trying to manipulate the refs.

Odds for 1st NBA player to get a flopping technical foul

BetOnline.ag's odds for the 1st NBA player to receive a technical foul for flopping as of Tuesday, July 25th.

Memphis Grizzlies combo guard Marcus Smart (+800)

His chances to cash this bet improve while Memphis's Ja Morant serves a 25-game suspension for toting guns on Instagram. Smart may not be a starter in Memphis over the long haul. But, Smart will certainly open the season as a Grizzlies starter.

Smart won the 2021-22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year on his back. His best talent as a defender is knowing when to flop. Smart's supports might call it "drawing a charge". Yet I view it as Smart holding down the "circle button" at the right time.

Atlanta Hawks PG Trae Young (+1200)

Young is my least favorite player in the NBA. Aside from maybe James Harden and Joel Embiid, no one has benefitted more in the flopping era than Young. He has been in the top-five of total free-throw attempts in four straight seasons.

Also, NBA officials are smarter than they are given credit for. The flopping era was more due to the league offices directing refs to call more ticky-tack fouls to increase scoring. Young has a cheat-code.

Trae initiates the contact with his defender who's side-stepping between him and the basket. Young will flail at the defender and throw himself to the floor. I have a hunch refs are looking forward to righting this wrong.

Philadelphia 76ers C Joel Embiid (+1400)

If Embiid's defense were as bad as Young's, he would be my least favorite player in the Association. Do me a favor and count how many times Embiid ends up on the floor the next time you watch a Sixers game.

Embiid is one of the biggest players in the NBA, stands 7-foot-0 and weighs 280 pounds. Yet somehow Embiid will get truck-sticked by guards half his size on a daily basis. It's pathetic and lame AF.

There isn't a secret recipe for Embiid being either 1st or 2nd in free-throw attempts in each of the past three seasons. Refs reward Embiid for his acting is part of the reason for his playoff struggles. "Postseason officiating" is a real thing in the NBA.

Embiid doesn't get the soft calls in the playoffs he does during the regular season. In the last two playoffs, Embiid has averaged at least 2.4 fewer free-throw attempts per game compared to the regular season.

For my money, Embiid is the worst flopper in basketball and my best bet to be the 1st NBA player T'd up for flopping.