Ranking the Biggest Fails of the 2011-2012 NBA Season

The NBA is filled with success stories and clutch moments, but it's also a hotbed for season-long failures and unflattering occurrences.

As if the prolonged lockout and subsequently truncated season wasn't enough, this year has boasted an unprecedented number of fails.

From sorry records, to disconcerting stat lines, to botched wet willies, this season has had it all.

15. Lamar Odom

We hate to admit it, but Lamar Odom was a failure this season.

After being traded to the Mavericks, Odom posted a paltry 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds on 35.2 percent shooting per game. His effort was questioned on a daily basis as he constantly struggled to do the things he's done his entire career.

Odom and Dallas parted ways in the end, as the forward's failure to recapture his swagger reminded us that professional athletes are human, first and foremost.

14. Martell Webster vs. the Rim

It's never easy to have a shot blocked, but it's even more unnerving to have a dunk blocked by the very basket you are trying to put the ball through.

Ricky Rubio is incredibly adept at creating alley-oop opportunities. However, on this occasion, he made the mistake of assuming Martell Webster was fit to finish the play, which he wasn't.

Webster's jam is bricked, in the most obnoxious of fashions, as he fails to capitalize off a perfectly placed pass from the Spanish sensation.

Failure clearly isn't flattering.

13. Corey Brewer Misses Dunk and Layup in One Motion

The first clip of this video highlights Corey Brewer's failed attempt to dunk or lay-in the ball.

As Brewer approaches the rim, he seems torn between a dunk and a layup, so he settles for a little of both, without the points, though.

Typically, Brewer can be counted on to finish strong at the rim. Here, though, he looks as indecisive as Dwight Howard leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline.

That's a fail.

12. Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard's entire season, from a strategic standpoint, has been a monumental fail, but this particular one is truly incredible.

Moments after Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy confirms that Howard has asked the Orlando front office to fire him, the superstar enters the scene, clad with a smile and bag full of excuses.

Not only does Howard deny the allegations Van Gundy just confirmed, but he puts his arm around the coach as if their friends, with actual respect for each other.

File the one under one of the most awkward fails ever.

11. Javale McGee Abandons His Team

JaVale McGee loves to play defense.

In fact, he's so partial to the defensive end that he's actively willing to take bad shots in order to allow his opponent to regain possession as soon as possible.

If that doesn't work, though, McGee's not afraid to abandon the offensive cause altogether.

Just ask his former team, the Wizards.

10. Delonte West

Technically, Delonte West never wet the tip of his finger beforehand, so this actually isn't a wet willy.

That said, it is a monstrous sportsmanship fail. West has always been considered a bit of an eccentric athlete, but this crosses a line.

There's cheap shots and then there's this.

Call it a lapse in judgement, an absence of a moral code of conduct, call it whatever you like. At the end of the day, it was a major fail for the game of basketball. 

9. Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers were supposed to contend for a title this season, but instead find themselves outside the playoff bubble.

Prior to the firing of Nate McMillan, the Portland locker room imploded. And while it led to a coaching change, that's about the only thing that has changed, as the Blazers are 28-34 and falling harder by the day.

Portland's roster is much too talented—even without Marcus Camby and Gerald Wallace—to be watching from home come postseason time.

And yet, that's where they'll be.

8. LeBron James Forgets to Show Cavaliers What They're Missing

It's tough for Cavaliers fans to watch LeBron James come to town as the member of the Heat.

That said, it's a little bit easier when he puts up a three-point air ball like this one. Sure, it ripped through the bottom of the net, but it failed to pass through the top first.

Miami was in control of the game, but James' fail meant more to the fans than their team's lopsided loss.

7. Brendan Haywood Assists the Thunder

The Mavericks thought they nearly lost two big men to rival teams after Brendan Haywood scored two points for the Thunder earlier in the year.

Unfortunate bounces and deflections are a part of the NBA, but few are as unfortunate as this one. While going for what we can only hope was a rebound, Haywood knocked the ball into his own basket, handing Oklahoma City two extra points.

Coincidentally, that's also the number of points Dallas wound up losing by.

6. Martell Webster Part II

Your team's down three with less than five seconds to go. You steal the inbounds pass, and have a chance to tie and force the game into overtime. So, naturally, you dunk.

It's far from a given that Martell Webster could have hit a three to tie the game, but he essentially ensured a loss by not attempting one.

By the time he dunked the ball, there was only half a second left, and all hope of the Timberwolves completing the miraculous comeback was thrown out the window.

But hey, at least he got this jam to go down.

5. Rajon Rondo's Ben Stiller Impersonation

There's always a certain level of risk involved when playing with Rajon Rondo.

The point guard is fully aware of his surroundings, sometimes more so than his teammates, Mickael Pietrus can attest to that. 

Rondo's pass literally caroms off the head of Pietrus and sails right into the hands of Tyson Chandler.

After witnessing such an occurrence, there's only one question that comes to mind: Who's liable for the turnover, Rondo or Pietrus? 

4. Charlotte Bobcats

The Bobcats' season has been one gigantic failure in addition to an inescapable nightmare.

To be fair, Charlotte wasn't built to win—at all—but few expected this level of horrific.

If DeSagana Diop isn't air-balling free throws, Corey Maggette is busy assisting Lob City in their never-ending quest to play most of the game in transition.

The Bobcats' follies have earned them the worst record in the NBA at 7-53, and with only six games left, the season cannot end soon enough for this group of misguided talent.

3. Orlando Magic Go Four-on-Five

The NBA is demanding, and at times, extremely difficult, but there are just certain aspects of the game where there is no margin for error.

Like ensuring the correct number of players are on the court, for instance.

In a bold attempt to convince Dwight Howard to remain in Orlando long term, the Magic try to show their franchise star that anything the Celtics can do with five players, they can do with four.

Alright, that's not true.

However, Jason Richardson realizes what's happening in time to salvage the play and the Magic's dignity.

Actually, that's not true either. 

2. The Maloof Brothers

There hasn't been much to cheer about in Sacramento this season, and even less given that the Maloof brothers appear determined to run the Kings franchise into the ground.

Sacramento's arena deal is officially ruined, and the franchise is headed nowhere, at least as long as the Maloof family is running the show.

There are few things worse than betraying the city you represent and essentially stabbing a loyal fanbase in the back.

One of those things is enabling Knicks' owner James Dolan to be viewed as a saint, which he is, when pitted alongside the Maloofs.

1. Nick Young's Layup...or Lack Thereof

It's been considered a mystery as to how the Clippers were able to relinquish so little in return for Nick Young.

After watching the shooting guard's botched layup attempt, though, the mystery is put to bed. This attempt soars over the backboard and into the stands like it was blocked by JaVale McGee.

Layups are often taken for granted, and if nothing else, Young teaches us that there is no such thing as an easy basket.

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