The NBA Needs to Ban Marcus Smart to Stop Flopping

Marcus Smart needs to be stopped. NBA referees need to stop falling for him falling. Smart is a menace to polite society and the league has to do something. They have two choices, tell officials to stop rewarding him for throwing himself on the ground or ban him for life.

In case you missed it, here's what Smart and the officials teamed up to do during game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Down 1 with 22 seconds remaining the Celtics were inbounding the basketball. Kemba Walker ran towards a pick set by Smart and pushed Miami's Derrick Jones into Smart who happily dove to the floor while the officials called a foul giving the Celtics a free throw to tie it and the ball for the final shot.

The Heat ended up winning in overtime, but again, Smart was rewarded and encouraged to do it again. Is there any doubt that he will hit the deck multiple times next game and get favorable whistles more often than not?

There is a lot of flopping in the NBA so that isn't going away. And referees are going to keep rewarding less offensive floppers as long as they reward Smart so the only real option is to ban Marcus Smart. This is what Marcus Smart does. If anyone has any other suggestions, please share them, but I see no other way.

Smart is one of those guys who does all the little things. He's the most annoying player on the planet when you're rooting the other team. He is only enjoyable if he is on your team and even then, deep down, you must feel shame. You have to know that what he is doing on a nightly basis is not right. It is not basketball.

Do the right thing, NBA. Ban Marcus Smart. Save the integrity of your postseason.