Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden just became the first player to be fined for flopping in this 2013-14 NBA season, and it took him just seven games to do it. (Ah, these Rockets and their love of pushing the pace.)
The NBA announced Monday that Harden had run afoul of the league's anti-flopping guidelines for the second time this season in Houston's 107-94 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The simulation in question came with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, with the Rockets trailing by nine and Harden looking to get to the foul line after rebounding his own missed layup and finding himself trapped by Clippers power forward Blake Griffin along the baseline:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOYSzVLQyc#wsYeah, the announcers' laughter kind of says it all there, doesn't it?
Harden received the season's first $5,000 fine because this was the second time he's been found guilty of excessive dramatics. The first violation came during Houston's Nov. 5 win over the Portland Trail Blazers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCEC9hGZsJ4#ws
