Courtesy of IFWT.com
With hundreds of NBA prediction articles flooding the search engines in preparation for the start of the season, we found a great opportunity to take a break from your regularly scheduled analysis and opinionated articles to deliver a somewhat alternative view of the league from a fans perspective. Today we will be predicting the biggest flopper of the 2014-2015 NBA season. But before we dive head first into naming the worst of the worst, lets take a look at the history of flopping.
What does the term “flopping” mean?
Flopping is the art of over exaggerating the physical contact induced by the opponent in an attempt to persuade or sway a referee to issue an offensive or defensive citation in the favor of the “floppee”. Many would agree that the act of flopping originated from international professional soccer players but was first introduced and widely recognized in American sports by the great Vlade Divac, an international basketball player from Yugoslavia who played a total of 16 years in the NBA.
Divac is the Michael Jordan of flopping, a pioneer if you will, he deserves his own logo in the form of an overly dramatic basketball player self-fainting to the floor. Without him, the NBA floppers of the current era would be utterly lost in attempting to accomplish one of the most frowned upon aspects of the game today.
Image Courtesy of ESPN.com
Divac laid down the blueprint to flopping, since then, this heinous act of persuasion has spread like the plague, tarnishing the credibility of countless players and superstars on a weekly basis. There is no NBA fine high enough, no punishment harsh enough to deter these players from performing an act that would make even President Barack Obama shake his head in pure shame. Today we will predict the some of the worst on-screen actors since Shaquille O’Neil starred in the movie Kazaam. Ladies and gentleman, meet a few of the biggest potential floppers of the 2014-2015 NBA season.
James Harden, Houston Rockets (SG)
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOYSzVLQyc
- Nick Name: The Beard aka Pizza Rolls
- Floppability Rank: 9.0
- Flops per game: 5.0
- NBA fines: (1) $5,000 in 2013
The Keanu Reeves of flopping — meaning he has no facial emotion during his performance and you’d rather see him do anything other than camera acting. James Harden is one of the worst floppers in the league. We’re talking about a guy who receives minimal contact yet finds some odd reason to lay lifeless on the ground for an extended period of time as if he was hit with a police taser. The flop police finally caught up to Harden on 11/11/2013 where he was fined $5,000 by the league for his second flop violation of the season. Perhaps Harden should invest a small portion of his salary into hiring an acting coach. I hear Wesley Snipes could use the work.
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers (SF)
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fSlLdXNzPw
- Nick Name: King James aka The Invisible Hairline
- Floppability Rank: 9.0
- Flops per game: 4.0
- NBA fines: (1) $5,000 in 2013
The best player in the game and quite arguably one of the most elite floppers since Divac made it a household name. LeBron James received thousands of votes from fans and was crowned The Sports Unbiased 2013 flopper of the year where he helped usher in a new era by executing an endless array of flops as a result of little to zero contact from the offending player. His flopping is so widely spread that there are several YouTube video compilations where you can see his horrible work on display. Oddly enough, James has only been fined once for his violations, which could be by design. One thing for certain, LeBron James makes the WWE look like a grammar school play.
Lance Stephenson, Charlotte Hornets (SG)
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgu7iufAz9Q
- Nick Name: Born Ready aka The Human Ear Blower
- Floppability Rank: 8.9
- Flops per game: 3.0
- NBA fines: (2) $10,000 5/19/2014, $5,000 5/21/2014
People around the league refer to him as “Born Ready” but his nickname should be “Born Actor”. Lance Stephenson brought shame to the people of Indiana during the 2014 NBA playoffs after executing his famous “flop till you drop” move that left him laying lifeless on the ground for several minutes as a result of contact so miniscule it made my son say “cmon man”! While Stepheson would make an outstanding street mime, perhaps he should focus on his primary source of income– the NBA.
Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers (PG)
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeRG5qHIxJ0
- Nick Name: CP3 aka Stunt Double
- Floppability Rank: 9.2
- Flops per game: 4.0
- NBA fines: (0) Warning issued in 2013
Paul has been one of the best point guards in the league, unfortunately his random faintings to the ground have tarnished his reputation as a trustworthy player. Paul’s flopping antics are more dramatic than a villain being shot in an Expendables movie, sadly no one is buying a ticket to see him act. In 2013 he was warned by the league for violating the anti-flopping policy, but that hasn’t stopped him from overly exaggerating virtually any form of physical contact from the opponent. Referees have been privy to Paul’s antics over the past few NBA seasons, unfortunately, flopping is in his dna.
Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers (C)
Image Courtesy of NBA.com
- Nick Name: Sideshow Bob
- Floppability Rank: 7.5
- Flops per game: 2.0
If Vlade Divac and the tall russian woman from Beverly Hills Cop 2 had a love child, it would be Anderson Varejao because you need two horrible performers to make an utterly abysmal performer. Varejao has tried for years to sell his tired act to NBA referees across the league, the only problem is they’re not interested. Varejao has never been fined by the league for flopping but I expect his luck to change this season.
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