Ja Morant mocked by NBA official Scott Foster while arguing against technical foul call

The NBA decided to make flopping a point of emphasis this season, and no officiating crew heard that message louder than the one that presided over the Portland Trail Blazers' 136-129 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Three flopping fouls were called at the end of the contest, each of which had the potential to swing the game.

One of those fouls was called on Trail Blazers guard Ja Morant, who was spotted on the broadcast trying to plead his case to NBA official Scott Foster. After hearing Morant out for a bit, Foster animatedly imitated Morant's flop to show the guard what the officials saw.

Morant continued to argue his case briefly before Foster walked away.

After the contest, Morant said he planned to appeal the call , as he does not want to get fined, per ESPN.

"It ain't like I fell. I just kept going backwards. It is what it is. I'll try to appeal it. I think it's like a $2,000 [fine]."

Morant added that the Trail Blazers did switch up their defensive approach late in the game in an attempt to show officials the Lakers were initiating contact. In that one example, however, the officials determined Morant went too far in trying to sell that contact.

Trail Blazers head coach Micah Nori seemed to agree that the officials were way too happy to call flopping fouls at the end of the game. During his postgame presser, Nori playfully teased the league for making flopping fouls a point of emphasis this season, per ESPN.

"Good job by the NBA," Nori said. "Point of emphasis. Great job. There were [71] free throws. We almost got past 2 a.m. on the East Coast for the [end of the] game. Sorry to keep you all here so long."

While comments like that have resulted in fines in the past, Nori wasn't angry when he said it. He matter-of-factly stated that the NBA followed through on its promise. Because of that, it's unclear if his light criticism will draw attention from the league.

In September, the NBA announced it would crack down on flopping during the 2026-27 season. At the time, the NBA's head of referee development and training, Monty McCutchen, said the league wanted to make sure the "game is played on its merits, not the theatrics of the merits."

Morant can confirm the officials have followed through on that promise thus far.