Shane Battier

Shane Battier smiles and laughs when he talks. It’s one of the many personality traits that would one day make him a good politician.

Here’s another. Battier will look at you with a straight face and tell you he’s not one of the NBA’s serial floppers.

“Listen, I don’t flop like a lot of these guys,” Battier said. “I know a lot of people say I flop, but I’m too old for that.”

Then, after a few minutes of bantering, Battier will tell you he’s “wholeheartedly against” the NBA’s new “anti-flopping” rule.

“Reputation may play a big role in it,” Battier said.

And that’s exactly what Indiana coach Frank Vogel is hoping will happen this season when the NBA begins administering its new “anti-flopping” rule. The league announced this week that it will begin the tricky work of reviewing flops and dives around the NBA and slapping repeat offenders with fines.

– Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald