NBA Urged To Copy Flopping Rule From The 2026 FIFA World Cup

The 2025-26 NBA season came to an end on Saturday night, with the New York Knicks topping the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the NBA Finals.

The Knicks have their first NBA championship since the 1970s. New York topped San Antonio in five games, winning the first two games of the series before losing in Game 3. The Knicks then rallied to win the next two games, giving the City of New York a championship.

But as the NBA season comes to an end, fans are wondering what the league can do better, to handle the "flopping" situation. Several top NBA players seem to be more interested in hunting fouls than buckets these days.

It's a problem.

In the wake of this debate, the NBA is being urged to copy a rule that is going viral during the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has a "mistaken identity" rule. Players can be retroactively given a yellow or red card for flopping, essentially.

The NBA is being urged to 'copy' the rule

The NBA needs to copy this rule, says Fox News.

"This is exactly what the NBA needs to do when it comes to flopping. I believe if they take my advice I'm about to breakdown here, it would make the game more enjoyable to watch, and help discourage and punish flopping better than any rules they have laughably tried to implement over the years," Fox News writes.

"The NBA could adopt a version of FIFA's new 'mistaken identity' rule that would allow replay officials to correct situations where a defender is wrongly called for a foul because an offensive player exaggerated or fabricated contact."

A lot of fans would be on board.

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This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 5:45 AM.