What is a flagrant 2 foul in the NBA?

NBA referees have been in the limelight over the past few weeks as playoffs basketball has heated up. They have had to make game-changing decisions as players continue to push the boundaries of what’s legal and what’s not inside the court.

Just recently, Dillon Brooks was ejected in Game 3 of the series between the Memphis Grizzlies and LA Lakers for a low blow on LeBron James. Brooks was assessed with a flagrant foul 2 and was tossed out of the game.

The referees described Brooks’ play as “unnecessary and excessive,” which define an FF2 in the NBA’s rule book.

Over the past few days, FF2s have become a trend in the NBA playoffs. Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors stomped on Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings. Green was also called for a flagrant foul 2 before he was sent to the locker room.

The league later suspended the four-time champ for his actions in Game 2 and for his long history of unsportsmanlike fouls. Green’s suspension ultimately didn’t matter as the defending champs won their first game of the series.

The Philadelphia 76ers’ James Harden was also ejected in Game 3 of their series against the Brooklyn Nets. Harden did a Dillon Brooks on Nets forward Royce O’Neale. Upon review, it was clear that “The Beard” deliberately swung his arm at O’Neal and hit him in the groin.

Harden was tossed out of the game, but the 76ers held on to beat the Nets for a 3-0 lead in their first-round series. Unlike Green, the former MVP has no history of such fouls, so he wasn’t suspended for Game 4.

Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s senior vice president of referee development, was interviewed on TNT after James Harden’s ejection. McCutchen clarified that a hit to the groin is not an automatic flagrant foul 2. He added that there has to be “significant contact” for an FF2 to be called and an ejection to be added.

In the ejections of Harden and Dillon Brooks, “significant contact” was obvious and the hits were unnecessary and excessive.

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The NBA has considered a player’s history when deciding if a suspension is merited

The most famous case of this was Draymond Green’s stomping of Domantas Sabonis. Joe Dumars, the NBA’s vice president and head of basketball operations, admitted that Green would not have been ejected had “Domas” not grabbed his leg.

Dumars, however, emphasized that the former Defensive Player of the Year winner was a "repeat offender." It didn’t help that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was in the crowd when Green antagonized Sacramento Kings fans even more as the play was reviewed.

Dillon Brooks, like Green, has a history of committing such fouls. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Memphis Grizzlies play Game 4 against the LA Lakers without their enforcer in the lineup.

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