Youth Basketball Player Commits Egregious Flop, Outrages Entire Gym

Here it is: The final product of trickle-down flop-onomics.

We all grew up mimicking our sports heroes. We stuck our tongue out like Michael Jordan. We tried to hurdle our friends like Walter Payton.

If our favorite players did it, we’d give it a roll. They were superstars. If it worked in the pros, we figured it would work in our youth league. 

Predictably, flopping in the NBA has become the object of mimicry in college and high school, but it would appear the practice has finally seeped all the way down to the youngest levels of the sport. 

Twitter user @Cartmaniak (h/t Stephen Douglas of The Big Lead) spotted a video of one of the worst flops you’ll ever see. The unfortunate part of the scenario wasn’t the theatrics, however. The gut-wrenching part is a child perpetrated the act.

The video’s YouTube description claims No. 21 became upset after having his ankles broken during an earlier play. His retribution? A Free Willy re-enactment on the hardwood. 

I’d like to make one thing clear: I’m not mad at the kid.

Disappointed? Maybe. But the issue causing me to smell burnt toast is the fact this kid learned to do this from watching professionals. 

You aren’t born with a flop reflex. You don’t pop out of the womb and hurl yourself across the crib to earn more milk. Falling down needlessly in sports is something you see another person do and remember for a later date. 

This flop is on you, NBA perpetrators. The future of basketball is changing because of your actions.

Let's get it together before the commissioner starts looking for new revenue streams and replaces the hardwood with Tempur-Pedic.

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