Stopping flopping is among NBA priorities this season, to the delight of many

Minnesota's Rudy Gobert gave New York's Jalen Brunson a shove to the back during a preseason game earlier this week, and the reigning NBA Finals Most Valuable Player fell forward after taking that impact.

That was fine. Predictable, expected, understandable.

Thing is, Brunson continued to stumble — and that's what the NBA is watching.

The message from the NBA is simple: Stop the flop. While it's plausible that a 7-foot-1, 258-pound chiseled man like Gobert certainly could send someone 11 inches shorter and 68 pounds lighter like Brunson flying with a shove, the referee clearly felt in that moment that the Knicks star oversold the impact.

A technical foul for flopping was called. Brunson didn't like it, but the NBA says those calls will be coming this season when the line between embellishment and flopping — a subjective line, to say the least — gets crossed.

“We’re seeing people say, ‘Oh, I’m so tired of the flopping,’" Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s senior vice president of referee development and training, said before preseason play started this fall. "There’s a real institutional distinction between embellishments — which we have allowed, and are going to continue to allow, which is not secondary, is not theatrical, is not exaggerated — and flopping.

"Embellishment is saying, ‘Hey, I think something illegal took place here, and I’m trying to draw your attention to it.’ We did not want to rob our players of the passion or the ability to draw attention to something.”

The NBA always has officiating priorities — some called points of emphasis, others called areas of focus — going into a season. This season's lists include clarity on off-arm push-offs by offensive players (or creating space illegally), what is legal freedom of movement on screens, and proper closeouts on jump shots.

Referees have gone into training camps to give teams a taste of what's happening, and obviously the preseason games provide a more open look at the changes and how they'll affect play.

“I believe NBA players are some of the best and quickest at adapting to rule the trends," said James Jones, the former NBA player — and NBA champion — who is now an executive vice president overseeing basketball operations for the league. “I have no doubt players will adapt in a positive way and in a competitive way.”

The list of annual priorities isn't put together randomly; it happens after countless meetings with stakeholders, competition committee members and more.

It all matters, and getting a better handle on flopping has seemed to be something everyone wants.

“For me, it’s a simple fix: Just don’t reward these non-basketball actions. That’s it,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “I think those of us who have been in the sport long enough know what it is and what it isn’t. ... We don’t teach flopping here. We don’t teach embellishment. We never have.”

Some coaches, like Boston's Joe Mazzulla, have said the first 10 or 15 games of the regular season are the truest indicator of how changes in officiating will affect games. And it's true that the league has called trying to eliminate flopping a priority in the past; it assessed only four flops after postgame reviews in the entirety of the 2025-26 season.

“The players see a rule, they figure out the boundaries of the rule and then they figure out a way to bend them more," Jones said. "And I think that’s what makes our game and the competition great. It’s like this game of cat and mouse.”

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder speaks to referee Michael Smith in the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) argues a foul call made by referee Ben Taylor, left, during overtime of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, left, argues for a call with referee Eric Dalen in the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Micah Nori, left, agrees with referee Scott Twardoski, right, during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against Sacramento Kings Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, right, talks to referee Eric Dalen, left, during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration projected Wednesday that the annual cost-of-living adjustment for older adults and people with disabilities will go up by 3.6% beginning in 2027, with some recipients complaining that is not enough to offset soaring prices.

The adjustment translates to $75 extra per month for the nearly 72 million people who receive monthly Social Security benefits and about 7.3 million beneficiaries who get Supplemental Security Income.

The announcement comes as inflation adds pressure on household budgets and businesses and as midterm elections are weeks away.

The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for retirees and disabled beneficiaries is financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers, up to a certain annual salary. That is set to increase to $192,300 in 2027, from $184,500 in 2026.

The agency's commissioner, Frank Bisignano, said in a statement that the adjustment will give recipients “greater financial stability.”

Some older adults feel the increase is a drop in the bucket as inflation has eaten away at monthly savings. The government reported Wednesday that inflation accelerated in September, with the consumer price index rising 3.7% in September compared with a year ago and gas prices have spiked in the wake of renewed fighting between the United States and Iran.

Nancy Altman, president of the Social Security Works advocacy group, said the latest inflation data shows that “as important as the Social Security COLA is, it is not keeping up with prices.”

Lorrie Ufkin, a 71-year-old retiree who lives outside Rochester, Minnesota, said the COLA will not put a dent in her healthcare costs, which are set to increase after the Trump administration concludes at year's end a temporary Medicare Part D subsidy program that has helped offset premiums. Ufkin said that her premiums and drug cost are expected to rise, although the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has projected a modest increase for most people.

The COLA “doesn’t even meet what they’re going to do for changes to Medicare,” she told The Associated Press.

She said one of the medications both she and her husband take will go from $11 per month for each prescription, to $200 per month, after Republican administration changes made to older Americans' healthcare programs. She said that was “catastrophic.”

Senior advocacy groups say the COLA is a strong reminder of the financial straits of many older people.

“There’s a lot on the line financially right now for older Americans — one in five have no retirement savings, and more people feel financially insecure this year than last. That makes Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment critically important,” said AARP CEO Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan.

Jaime Jakubczak, a 68-year-old resident of Buffalo, New York who retired early at 55, has recently gone back to work to make ends meet, specifically to afford rising property taxes. He said the COLA is insufficient because it is offset by high inflation and a proposed 3.9% property tax increase in his town.

Jakubczak called the 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment “a pittance," given how high food, healthcare and gasoline prices have become across the country.

“We were getting ahead a little bit with the COLA based on inflation, but the inflation is so high that it doesn’t offset what our COLA allowance is," he said.

Most older adults believe the COLA isn’t adequately keeping up with inflation, according to an AARP poll from September. That poll found that about three-quarters of those 50 or older disagreed with the idea that a 3.5% COLA in 2027 would be enough to keep up with rising prices.

The Social Security Administration faces a looming bankruptcy date if a funding shortfall is not addressed by Congress.

The June 2026 Social Security and Medicare trustees’ report states that Social Security’s combined trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2034. After that, incoming revenue would cover about 83% of scheduled benefits.

While a permanent solution for shoring up the benefits program has not been passed into law, lawmakers on the Hill have called for new measures to replenish the trust funds.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, in June proposed lifting the Social Security payroll tax cap, which is a maximum amount of earnings taxable. Treating all income the same "would generate substantial revenue that would extend the solvency of Social Security for another generation,” they wrote in The New York Times.

The move is controversial because Republicans have traditionally criticized calls to raise taxes on the wealthy.

The Peterson Foundation estimates that lifting the payroll tax cap would add roughly $3 trillion into the program over the next 10 years.

Both the Trump and Biden administrations signed into law new benefits for retirees, which boosted their finances, but simultaneously accelerated the insolvency of the old-age benefits program.

The Trump administration, as part of Republicans’ tax and spending bill, gave a temporary tax deduction for people 65 and over, which applies to all income — not just Social Security. But those who aren't able to claim the deduction include the lowest-income older adults who already don’t pay taxes on Social Security, those who choose to claim their benefits before they reach 65 and those above a defined income threshold.

Additionally, Democratic President Joe Biden in 2024 repealed two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that previously limited Social Security payouts for roughly 2.8 million people, including largely former public workers.

FILE - The Social Security Administration office is seen in Mount Prospect, Ill., Oct. 12, 2022.(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)