Kobe Bryant calls flopping a “chump move,” Dwight Howard won’t go 5-on-5 and other camp news

Kobe Bryant agreed with the NBA’s decision to impose fines on repeat flopping offenders, saying flopping was a “chump move.” Bryant said it was good for the league to eradicate the practice of embellishing the contact when drawing to draw an offensive foul. He was joined by others, including Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol.

World Peace showed a reporter what it’s like to take a real charge, crashing into the poor fellow not once but twice as a pack of fellow media type stood back and laughed. But the point was clear, you don’t have to fake contact to attract the attention of a referee.

Gasol said the league might have been wise to whistle players for a technical foul after issuing a warning for flopping, as they do in international games. He said it’s a tougher punishment to award two free throws plus possession of the ball.

Meanwhile, Lakers coach Mike Brown said the team would conduct its first five-on-five scrimmage in the second of two practices Wednesday. Dwight Howard would not be permitted to join the fray since he hasn’t been cleared for full-contact activity. He participated in all of Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s first workout.

A crew from a Canadian sports network has been at Lakers camp for the first three days, scoring interviews with Steve Nash, of course, but also with fellow British Columbia native Robert Sacre, a rookie center from Gonzaga.

Nash attended high school in Victoria; Sacre went to school in North Vancouver.