Handing out Our Worst of the Worst NBA Awards for the 2012 Season

With the NBA entering its final days of the regular season, it's time to start handing out the awards for the Worst of the Worst. While the elite have their awards, we'd like to honor the effete—the least impressive, the most deserving of being called undeserving. 

The disclaimer for each and every one of these awards is that no player or team was "hated" in the production of this article. In every case they "won" they got the award the old-fashioned way—they unearned it. 

So here, without further ado, are those most worthy of your sneers, snickers and disdain.

This is the 2012 Worst of the Worst Awards. 

Most Disappointing Player, Lamar Odom

When the Dallas Mavericks landed the reigning Sixth Man of the Year for nothing more than a bottom-end draft pick, the world was stunned. How could the Lakers have allowed themselves to get taken to the cleaners? "Mich Kupchak must be crazy!" they said. 

Crazy like a fox. Lamar Odom has had such a bad year that if you look up the word "disappointment" in the dictionary, it says "Don't compare me with Lamar Odom!"

Odom's drop of 10.1 in PER is easily the worst drop off any player this year, and the worst by any defending Sixth Man of the Year in NBA history. 

It was so bad that Odom was effectively cut from the team. The Odom trade will be known forever in Dallas as the "Oh! Dumb!" trade. 

Also getting consideration: Stephen Jackson, Andre Blatche

Biggest Flopper, Blake Griffin

Flopping is reaching an all-time low point in the NBA, and one of its most elite offensive players has taken flopping to a whole new level. Not content with the dreary, old-fashioned, "You grazed me, so I'm going to flop to the ground," Blake Griffin actually hits himself and then does the self-flop.

This is not hating on Griffin. It's calling a spade a spade. Technically, there are some other players who could be argued to be worst floppers than Griffin, but Griffin is without excuse a flopper. 

Most floppers flop because they lack the athleticism to be elite defenders. They're compensating. For a player who can touch the rim with his feet, there's not excuse for flopping. 

For Griffin to be a flopper is just lazy, and by virtue of that he's our worst flopper. 

Also getting consideration: Chris Paul (the Clippers are the worst flopping team in the league), Paul Pierce and, of course, the G.O.A.T. of flop artists, Manu Ginobili

UpChucker and Bakers Awards, John Wall

Over the course of the year we from time to time had daily awards for "UpChucker" and "Bakers." The UpChucker Award went to the player who shot and missed to the point of making you want to barf. The Bakers Award went to the player who committed the most turnovers. 

John Wall was considered to be a franchise player when he was taken out of the draft. It remains to be seen whether that's the case. What's clear is that when you surround him with a team full of Mr. Potato Heads, he can't do much else. 

He's not a franchise in and of itself. But then, who is?

In part it's because of that that Wall is forced to force things, and is the dual winner of our awards for "Biggest Chucker" and "Turnover King," both of which are given on entirely objective grounds. 

Wall has the worst effective field goal percentage of any player in the NBA with at least 750 attempts at a lowly .425. Only two players in the league were even within 20 points of that level of badness.

He also leads the NBA in turnovers with 247.

Maybe the Wizards need to magically summon up some more players who play a little less of the wall and a little more off of Wall. 

Also considered for UpChucker: DeMar DeRozan .435, Tayshaun Prince, .445. (Foreseeing the "corrections," Kobe Bryant was eighth at .462.)

Also considered for Bakers Award: Kevin Durant, 243, Russell Westbrook, 237. (That's not a hating thing, they're just second and third, but yeah, that should be concerning if you're a Thunder fan.)

Ugliest Foul, Metta World Peace

Metta World Peace—or should I say Metta World Violence—attempted to crack open the skull of James Harden in one of the most cowardly, vindictive, nefarious plays I've ever witnessed. 

Perhaps the least controversial of these awards will be this. I mean, it's something about rearing back with your elbow and going WWE on a guy for having the unmitigated gall for being in your way or disrupting your celebration. 

Among the stupidest comments of the year by Skip Bayless—perhaps the most ridiculous—is his continued insistence that on some level Harden should bear some blame for instigating World Violence. That's something like saying the battered wife deserves some of the blame for not having dinner ready on time. 

There's no excuse, no qualification and no equivocation here. World Violence acted like a thug. 

Worst Coach, Avery Johnson

When Avery Johnson inherited the Dallas Mavericks, he became the fastest coach to 100 victories. Many people were dubious as to his accomplishment, arguing that he'd essentially inherited a team and that it really had little to do with him. 

Johnson's tenure with the Nets (or as some have called them, the "Nyets," which is pretty good) has gone a long way towards proving his skeptics right. During his two-year run he's won a meager 46 games, and in his first season with Deron Williams the team has barely improved, winning only about a third of their games. 

At least Johnson's terrible coaching is balanced, as they are equally bad on both sides of the ball, having the 23rd worst offensive rating and 28th worst defensive rating. 

There's a growing sense among conspiracy theorists that the Nets will "win" the lottery this year. They would enhance their chances of winning even more by finding a coach that can, well...coach?

Also Considered: Vinny Del Negro, Erik Spoelstra

Worst Executive, Michael Jordan

The Charlotte Bobcats are in the running for the worst team ever. I mean, they are a whole new and special kind of bad. They presently are the proud owners of the worst winning percentage in the history of the game. They also have the second worst margin of "victory" in the history of the game.

Badness like this requires a special assimilation of players. The "best" player on the team, Kemba Walker, has a PER of 15.1, which is barely above average. The team's effective field goal percentage is .438. The list of impressively bad things about this team reaches a level that's impressive. 

They are an entirely unique level of bad, and one man stands above all others to take credit for that, Michael Jordan. It's my opinion that he still wants to be the best player on the team, so he makes an agreement with his team—if you can beat him at one on one, he'll trade you. 

However, until then you're trapped in Charlotte, forced to play for the worst team in NBA history. 

Also considered: Chad Buchanan, Joe Dumars 

Least Valuable Player, Dwight Howard

This award doesn't go to the 12th man on the worst team who isn't expected to do anything. That's too easy. This goes to the player who is expected to be an MVP-caliber player but does more to hurt his team than help them. 

This one is an easy one, and it's a unanimous vote by this voting committee of one. Dwight Howard's shenanigans this year were the workings of comedy. Tina Fey, Christopher Lloyd and Greg Daniels working together could not parody this script enough to do it justice. 

Dwight Howard started the season by demanding a trade, then rebuked his team for not committing (while maintaining that he wanted to be traded), asked for his coach to be fired, denied he asked for his coach to be fired, put his arm around his coach while his coach was talking about how he wanted him to be fired, signed a piece of paper saying he would extend, then finished the season by asking the team to trade him even though he'd signed the waiver. 

The question I have is this: If Dwight Howard removed his head from its firmly entrenched position on his body, would he be seven feet?

Also considered: No one. This was a runaway.