Jalen Brunson’s egregious flopping is NBA Playoffs’ most annoying subplot

Jalen Brunson isn’t one of the biggest, quickest, or most explosive guards in the NBA, but he’s become one of the best because no one is craftier. Brunson has faced skeptics as he’s climbed the basketball world, going from an underrated recruit to a college basketball legend at Villanova to a second round draft pick who the Dallas Mavericks didn’t want long-term. He’s morphed into a true NBA superstar on the New York Knicks even with the same limitations traditional scouts have always seen in him.

Ausar Thompson is almost the polar opposite of Brunson. He’s an elite quick-twitch athlete with great positional size who is still learning how to sharpen his skill set and apply his tools. Thompson is drawing the Brunson assignment as the Detroit Pistons take on the Knicks in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, and through two games Brunson is already throwing the kitchen sink at him to gain any advantage he can.

In practice, that means Brunson is baiting Thompson into fouls and doing everything he can to sell them to the refs. It’s led to widespread complaints that Brunson is a flopper, which is of course nothing new to people who have watched his entire career.

The Pistons beat the Knicks, 100-94, in Game 2 on Monday night to even the series. Brunson had a big game for the Knicks (37 points, seven assists), but most of the talk during the contest was about his flopping. The Knicks star fouled out Thompson with just over five minutes left in regulation, and immediately celebrated by holding up six fingers in the air.

This play is an example of why it’s so hard to guard Brunson without fouling. As soon as Thompson reaches, Brunson flings his body into him to get to the free throw line. Through two games, Brunson is attempting 10.5 free throws per game in this series.

Some of Brunson’s foul-drawing earlier in the game was far more egregious. One of the tried-and-true rules of flopping is if you fall down, the refs usually call a foul. Thompson played great defense here beating Brunson to the spot on the floor he was trying to get to, but when Brunson fell the refs blew the whistle on Thompson.

Thompson is hounding Brunson in the backcourt on this possession when the Knicks star hooks his arm. The refs saw the two players tangled up and called a foul on Thompson.

Here’s a closer look at the play.

Basketball is a contact sport, and Brunson really knows how to sell that contact. He’s getting whiplash from even minor contact, throwing his head back, falling to the ground, and forcing the refs to do something about it. As long as it keeps getting rewarded, Brunson is going to keep doing it.

At a certain point, Brunson is only harming his own reputation. There was so much talk about his flopping following the Pistons’ win.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau defended Brunson after the game, and pointed out that the Pistons enjoyed a 34-19 free throw attempts advantage over New York in Game 2. Thibs pleaded with the refs for consistency, but it’s hard to enforce when his star player is exaggerating contact at every opportunity.

Knicks-Pistons is physical Eastern Conference basketball at his best. No one said it was going to be pretty.