The NBA handed out multiple fines Thursday for flopping and flagrant fouls from Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, including a $5,000 fine to LeBron James, according to ESPN. Both James and David West were fined $5,000 for flopping on the same play from the fourth quarter of the Indiana Pacers' win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
West was fighting for position on the play, and both recoiled when there was contact in the lane.
"We accept it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday morning. "We don't want the attention and the focus to be on the officiating. We want it to be on the competition, which is a great series. Our focus is taking business at home (in Game 5)."
Earlier this week, James said there was a strategic advantage to flopping. However, the reigning NBA MVP denied that he himself is a flopper.
"Some guys have been doing it for years, just trying to get an advantage," James said Monday. "Any way you can get an advantage over the opponent to help your team win, so be it."
It furthered a tough night for James, who fouled out for the first time in years, with a total of six fouls and a technical. The league also handed down a $5,000 fine for flopping to the Pacers' Lance Stephenson for exaggerating contact against Ray Allen in the first quarter of Game 4.
In addition, a West foul in the fourth quarter on Dwyane Wade has been upgraded to a flagrant-1 foul. It marked the third time in the series the NBA has upgraded a foul to a flagrant after a game.
The Pacers' 99-92 win on Tuesday was filled with such plays and marked by a combined 55 personal fouls. The series between the two teams is currently tied at two games a piece.
A link to the video of the play in question can be found here
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