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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The NBA issued Pacers guard Lance Stephenson a $5,000 fine on Tuesday for his second violation of the league's anti-flopping rules this season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stephenson becomes the third player to draw a fine this season, joining Rockets guard James Harden and Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer. He is also\u00A0the first player to have been fined twice for flopping, as he was previously fined $5,000\u00A0during the 2013 Eastern Conference finals against the Heat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The latest bit of embellishment from Stephenson occurred during the fourth quarter of Indiana's 102-94 road victory over Golden State on Monday. With less than two minutes remaining and the Pacers leading 94-90, George Hill lined up a three-pointer from the right angle. Stephenson attempted to crash the offensive boards from the left wing, but Klay Thompson turned his back to the hoop to box him out. Hill's shot wound up going in, but that didn't stop Stephenson from launching himself backwards to the court, as if shoved to the ground by Thompson.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No foul was called on the play, and video review indicated that Stephenson's reaction was not consistent with the level of contact delivered by Thompson, who did raise his forearms as the two players came together.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This type of flop was specifically brought up in the NBA\u2019s\u00A0official video introducing its flopping policy.\u00A0In the video, then-Hawks forward Josh Smith fell quickly to the ground while fighting for a rebound with then-Celtics forward Paul Pierce after getting pushed in the back.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CAs the highlighted defensive player prepares for a potential rebound, he feels slight contact from his opponent in his back,\u201D the narrator explains. \u201CHe then falls forward and collapses to the floor in an obvious over-embellishment. The actions of the player in the white uniform are inconsistent with the level of contact on the play and is designed to draw an unearned loose ball foul on his opponent. Again, this flop will be penalized.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stephenson's first flop came earlier this month against the Raptors. That flopping violation also occurred during a rebounding situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The 10 most ridiculous flops of the 2012-13 season&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In all, 21 players have been warned for flopping this season: Stephenson, Harden, Brewer,\u00A0Wizards guard\u00A0John Wall, Timberwolves forward\u00A0Kevin Love,\u00A0Spurs guard\u00A0Patty Mills,\u00A0Bucks center\u00A0Zaza Pachulia,\u00A0Knicks guard\u00A0Iman Shumpert, Clippers guard\u00A0Chris Paul,\u00A0Cavaliers center\u00A0Anderson Varejao,\u00A0Celtics forward\u00A0Jared Sullinger,\u00A0Mavericks forward\u00A0Dirk Nowitzki,\u00A0Bobcats guard\u00A0Gerald Henderson,\u00A0Warriors forward/center\u00A0Marreese Speights,\u00A0Sixers guard\u00A0Tony Wroten,\u00A0Bulls forward\u00A0Taj Gibson,\u00A0Pistons guard\u00A0Brandon Jennings,\u00A0Lakers guard\u00A0Jodie Meeks,\u00A0Celtics guard\u00A0Jerryd Bayless,\u00A0Rockets forward\u00A0Chandler Parsons\u00A0and Heat guard Mario Chalmers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Instituted before the 2012-13 season, the NBA\u2019s anti-flopping system provides one free warning to players before they are subjected to a scaling set of monetary fines.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\tViolation 1: Warning&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\tViolation 2: $5,000 fine&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\tViolation 3: $10,000 fine&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\tViolation 4: $15,000 fine&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\tViolation 5: $30,000 fine&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\tViolation 6: Subject to discipline reasonable under the\u00A0circumstances, including an increased fine\u00A0and/or suspension&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The NBA assigned 24 flopping violations to 19 different players on 13 different teams during the 2012-13 regular season. Five players received two infractions each, earning fines totaling $25,000, with zero players getting dinged three or more times.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;During the 2013 playoffs, the NBA\u00A0removed the free warning\u00A0and began assessing fines. Although commissioner David Stern said that the league\u2019s current policy \u201Cisn\u2019t enough\u201D to curb the practice, the league did not adopt any changes to the policy during the offseason.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The NBA defines flopping as \u201Cany physical act that, following review, reasonably appears to be intended to cause the game\u00A0officials to call a foul on another player\u201D with the \u201Cprimary factor\u201D in determining a flop being whether \u201Ca player\u2019s physical reaction to contact with another player is inconsistent with what would reasonably be expected given the force or direction of the contact.\u201D\nStephenson finished with 14 points (on 6-for-17 shooting), 10 rebounds and seven assists against the Warriors.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nba/point-forward/2014/01/21/lance-stephenson-indiana-pacers-flop-fine>