Technical and flagrant fouls in the NBA playoffsWhat is a technical foul in the NBA?What is a flagrant foul in the NBA?What's the difference between a technical foul and a flagrant foul? How many technical fouls until a player is suspended in the NBA playoffs? How does the points system work for flagrant fouls in the NBA playoffs? Players who have earned suspensions for technical, flagrant foul accumulation during the NBA playoffsOther notable suspensions in the NBA playoffsAre there any players in danger of a one-game suspension in the 2025 NBA playoffs?
Intensity and physical play are ramped up a notch in the NBA playoffs. And with so much on the line, emotions run high. So it's no surprise, then, that technical and flagrant fouls take center stage during the postseason. The point system for each type of foul, which is in place during the regular season, also becomes even more paramount come playoff time.
Here we'll examine what a flagrant foul is, what a technical foul is, the difference between the two types of fouls and how the discipline or points system works for each type of foul— including how many fouls a player can receive in the playoffs before the league levies a suspension.
What is a technical foul in the NBA?
A technical foul is essentially any violation of NBA rules that does not involve physical contact during the course of play. According to the NBA rulebook, technical fouls can be assessed for requests for a timeout in excess of the authorized number, delay of game, having six or more players on the court during play, hanging on the basket, rim or net after scoring, or unsportsmanlike conduct, among other things. Typically—but not in all cases— a free throw attempt is awarded when a technical foul is assessed, unless there is a double technical foul.
What is a flagrant foul in the NBA?
A flagrant foul is assessed when one player makes unnecessary contact with an opponent during the course of play. According to NBA rules, there are two types of flagrant fouls in the NBA, a flagrant 1 and a flagrant 2.
Flagrant 1: "Unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent."
Flagrant 2: "Unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent."
Here is some of the criteria the league uses to determine which fouls rise to the level of flagrant fouls: The severity of the contact, whether or not the player was making a legitimate basketball play, if windup and follow-through accompany the contact, potential for injury, severity of injury and finally, whether the contact led to an altercation.
Officials review personal fouls to determine if they meet the above criteria for either a flagrant 1 or 2 foul, if any other players committed unnecessary contact before or after the foul in question, or if a flopping violation in relation to the foul in question should be assessed or rescinded.
Both types of flagrant fouls result in two free throws and possession of the ball for the team that was the victim of the foul. A player who commits two flagrant 1 fouls in the same game or one flagrant 2 foul will be ejected.
What's the difference between a technical foul and a flagrant foul?
Flagrant fouls are almost always assessed for infractions of the rules the course of play, most specifically involving contact between two players. Technical fouls, on the other hand, are most often assessed for infractions of the rules that occur the course of play and not necessarily involving contact between players, including before and after plays.
Additionally, flagrant fouls are always assessed to individual players, whereas technical fouls can be assessed to players, coaches, team officials or even the team as a whole.
How many technical fouls until a player is suspended in the NBA playoffs?
In both the regular season and playoffs, there are fines and additional consequences that are levied in response to each technical foul in an elevating scale. There is also a certain number of technical fouls that, if a player accrues, he will be subject to an automatic one-game suspension. In the regular season, that number is 16. In the postseason, that number is lowered to seven.
A player's technical fouls from the regular season do not carry over into the start of the playoffs. However, a player's technical fouls do carry over from one playoff series to the next for the entirety of the postseason.
Here's the NBA's discipline scale for technical fouls in the playoffs.
Technical Foul #
Discipline
Technical Fouls 1-2
$2,000 fine each
Technical Fouls 3-4
$3,000 fine each
Technical Fouls 5-6
$4,000 fine each, warning letter after 5th foul
Technical Foul 7
$5,000 fine and one-game suspension
Each Additional Technical Foul
$5,000 fine
Each Two Additional Technical Fouls (Ex: 9, 11, 13)
$5,000 fine and one-game suspension
How does the points system work for flagrant fouls in the NBA playoffs?
Similarly to technical fouls, the NBA applies a specific set of disciplinary measures to prevent players from accruing a large amount of flagrant fouls during the regular season and playoffs. Unlike technical fouls, however, the NBA deploys a point system, which is the same for both the regular season and the postseason.
Here's how the point system works.
Flagrant Foul #
Point #
Flagrant 1
One point
Flagrant 2
Two points, automatic ejection, minimum $2,000 fine
Players receive a one-game suspension after accruing four flagrant points. Points do not reset after each playoff round.
Players who have earned suspensions for technical, flagrant foul accumulation during the NBA playoffs
The NBA's implementation of the technical foul disciplinary system, which occurred before the 2006 season, and the creation of the flagrant foul system, which occurred in 1993, are both fairly new developments in terms of league history. While there have been several instances of suspensions as a result of technical foul and flagrant foul accumulation during the regular season, such suspensions have proven to be rare in the postseason.
Kendrick Perkins, then of the Boston Celtics, was assessed a seventh technical foul, which would have resulted in an automatic one-game suspension, during Game 5 of the 2010 Eastern Conference finals. However, the league opted to rescind one of the two technical fouls assessed to Perkins, meaning the big man was allowed to play in the ensuing Game 6. He did not accrue another technical foul through the remainder of Boston's postseason run, which ended with a loss in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Given the rarity of flagrant 2 fouls, it's also been difficult for players to accumulate enough points to warrant an automatic one-game suspension in the playoffs. But it has happened. Most notably, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green earned a one-game suspension after accruing his fourth point in the 2016 postseason.
After Game 3 of a 2016 first round series vs. the Houston Rockets, Green was assessed a flagrant 1 (one point) for a takedown of Rockets forward Michael Beasley. Later on in the Western Conference finals, Green kicked Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams in the groin, a play that the NBA later elevated to a flagrant 2 (two points). Then, with under three minutes left in Game 4 of the 2016 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Green and Cavs star LeBron James became tangled up, and Green took a swipe at James's groin while he was getting up. No foul was assessed on the play, but the NBA retroactively issued Green a flagrant 1 (one point), which gave him four points and resulted in his suspension for the ensuing Game 5. The Cavs notably went on to win the series and complete a historic comeback.
Green was the last player suspended for flagrant foul accumulation during the playoffs.
But there have been instances where the league has stepped in to levy a one-game suspension, or multiple-game suspensions, in the playoffs.
During Game 2 of the 2022 Western conference semifinals, then-Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks was assessed a flagrant 2 foul that resulted in an injury to Warriors guard Gary Payton II. Brooks was suspended for one game without pay by the NBA, even though he had not accrued the necessary points for an automatic suspension. In Game 2 of a 2023 first round series between the Sacramento Kings and Warriors, Green was assessed a flagrant 2 foul after he stomped on the chest of Kings big man Domantas Sabonis. Green was suspended for Game 3 due to his "history of unsportsmanlike acts."
Other notable suspensions in the NBA playoffs
Here are just a few of some other notable suspensions in the NBA playoffs.
Year
Incident
Suspension(s)
1997
Heat-Knicks: fight at end of Game 5 of EC semifinals, players left bench area
5 players, including Patrick Ewing, suspended a total of 7 games
2007
Suns-Spurs: players left bench area after hard foul
Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw suspended one game each
2013
Heat-Pacers: Chris Anderson scuffle with Tyler Hansbrough after flagrant foul
Anderson suspended one game
2014
Grizzlies-Thunder: Zach Randolph punches Steven Adams
Randolph suspended one game
Are there any players in danger of a one-game suspension in the 2025 NBA playoffs?
Yes, Green has accumulated four technical fouls and two flagrant fouls (two points) so far in this year's postseason. Should the Warriors continued to advance in the playoffs, this could become an issue, like it was back in 2016.