The NBA is trying its best to keep floppers on their toes again.
Darius Garland and the Cleveland Cavaliers battled the Phoenix Suns at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday. During the fourth quarter of the game, the Cavs guard Garland was defending Suns star Devin Booker on a drive.
When Booker tried to create space for a pull-up shot at the right elbow, Garland went flying theatrically towards the baseline area some 15-20 feet away. In response, referee Dannica Mosher waited for the attempt by Booker (which went in) and then stopped play to call a rare flopping technical on Garland.
Here is the video of the full sequence.
Darius Garland receives a technical foul for flopping (with replays).
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) January 1, 2026
Suns and Cavaliers commentaries
Happy new year for the refs too, I guess… lol pic.twitter.com/Un9sfR4I0k
Though the flopping T on Garland was certainly well-deserved, it is not one that we see all too often in the NBA these days. Usually, the league prefers to assess retroactive fines for flopping instead (which they have already done multiple times this season). For actual in-game flopping technicals, they have happened in the past but not since at least last season.
The two-time All-Star Garland finished Wednesday’s game with 19 points and six assists as the Cavaliers cruised to a 129-113 victory over the Suns. But now Garland will have to pay a standard $2,000 fine for a technical foul, which is equal to the amount that he would have been docked via a retroactive flopping fine anyway.
