That Was Fun: Wackiest Moments from the 2014-15 NBA Season

Later on, in the dead of summer when we're all starving for NBA action, there will be time to catalog the conventional "best ofs" from the 2014-15 season.

Let's get to the weird, funny, rule-bending and nonsensical stuff first.

The criteria for inclusion here are simple. If there was a play during the regular season or playoffs that briefly convinced viewers they were watching another sport, it got consideration. If there was a moment that nobody had ever seen before, it made the cut.

These are the strange and the unfair, the novel and the viral.

Save the top dunks, blocks and game-winners for another time. These wacky moments deserve the spotlight.

Stephen Curry Bends Space and Time

Sixteen arms and legs, all hostile appendages, had a chance to disrupt Stephen Curry's signature moment from the 2014-15 regular season, yet none of them could prevent the league's MVP from teleporting the basketball through space and time.

The instinctive retreat behind the arc and the quick-trigger trey, which put the Golden State Warriors up by 13 in the third quarter of a win over the Los Angeles Clippers on March 8, were spectacular afterthoughts. But the ball-handling wizardry was the real attention-getter.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, arms raised, pleaded on behalf of basketball decency for Curry not to do exactly what he did...and then realized what Curry had done was more than decent.

It was sublime.

"Nothing he does surprises me anymore," Kerr told reporters after the game.

Robin Lopez Snaps

Rob Carr/Getty Images

There comes a time in every man's life when he has to decide what it is he stands for.

Some commit to a cause, or country, or a high-minded ideal.

During the 2014-15 season, Robin Lopez committed himself to putting NBA mascots down—one plush, googly-eyed anthropomorph at a time.

He hammered the Detroit Pistons' Hooper, cold-cocked the San Antonio Spurs' Coyote and threw a haymaker at Harry, the Atlanta Hawks' representative.

The Raptor got it next, and then a stakes-raising betrayal by Robin's twin brother, Brook Lopez, (who made peace with the Cleveland Cavaliers' Moondog) sent things spiraling out of control.

Lopez stuffed Stuff in Orlando, then knocked out G-Wiz in Washington.

Only the conclusion of the regular season saved more mascots from Lopez's cold justice.

Chris Paul Scales Dwight Howard

Leave it to Chris Paul, who has yet to let an edict-bending opportunity pass him by, to take advantage of a loophole in the intentional foul section of the NBA rulebook.

If Dwight Howard is away from the play, hacking him inside the last two minutes of the second and fourth quarters is a bad move. In addition to getting a pair of foul shots, Howard's team gets to keep the ball in those circumstances.

That rule, however, doesn't kick in when the foul happens during a fight for a rebound.

Cue Paul becoming D12's human Jansport in Game 7 of the conference semifinals.

Intentional fouls against Howard, DeAndre Jordan and a handful of others marred games in the playoffs. If we ever see the league address Hack-a-Whoever in earnest, expect this clip to be played on repeat during discussions.

Lance Stephenson Emerges, Is Incredulous

The New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets combined to finish 64 games under .500 this past season, which means nothing that happened between them during the year mattered.

Except for this.

If at some point Google analytics figures out a way to track how many giggles a particular clip elicits from viewers, I suspect this one will not only earn top honors for the 2014-15 NBA season, but will also challenge some of the web's greats.

Be advised, Keyboard Cat, Stephenson's video bomb is coming for you.

Trevor Booker Only Needs Two-Tenths

A couple of questions you should ask yourself when trying to determine whether a moment was wacky enough to qualify for end-of-year lists like this one.

First: Have you ever seen anything like the play in question?

Second: How many hours did you spend at the rec center trying to recreate it?

If the answers are "of course not" and any number above one, you've got a sufficiently wacky moment.

By rule, a player cannot secure and attempt a shot if there are less than three tenths of a second remaining on the clock. Here, Trevor Booker proves you can do incredible things with two tenths.

Who needs to secure and attempt when you can go with the over-the-head flip?

Who Swats a Shoe?

Never before has the phrase "get that sh-- out of here" been family friendly. No expletives here, folks. We're dealing with a shoe.

Tyson Chandler's mid-play footwear rejection taught us a few valuable lessons, the first of which is that the Dallas Mavericks big man cannot suppress his rim-protecting instincts. His timing and aggression on that denial were excellent.

"That was probably the (Mavs') best defensive play of the night," Dirk Nowitzki told Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com afterward.

We also learned it is completely legal to bat loose equipment out of bounds. Or at least it will be until the rules committee inevitably drafts the Chandler Amendment.

Finally, we learned that Curry, even when well intentioned, is still better off shooting than passing. There's no way Chandler gets a hand on that shoe if Curry pulls up and fires it at the rim from 35 feet.

He probably would have made it, too.

You Snooze, You Lose

Otto Porter's late-game bout of narcolepsy looks like the work of a clever video editor.

He seems to be staring right at Chicago Bulls wing Tony Snell, but when Snell darts baseline en route to an open right-wing three, Porter doesn't even flinch. A couple of beats pass before the Washington Wizards small forward realizes the 6'7" human being he was supposed to keep track of disappeared without a trace.

This wasn't the only instance of statuesque defense this season. Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins stood by and watched the Warriors execute an inbounds play earlier in the year.

But this was different, according to Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk: "I don’t think Otto Porter attended DeMarcus Cousins School of Idleness. The Kings center was seemingly trying to prove a point. Porter just looked like he malfunctioned."

Fortunately, Porter booted up and deduced Snell's location quickly. An embarrassing highlight could have gotten much worse if Porter had started searching the locker room or main concourse first.

Ultimate Professionalism

Steven Adams: "Nicholas, I shall bring to bear a workmanlike effort in the upcoming sports contest. I trust my preparation and focus will see me through."

Nick Collison: "Steven, your firm grip and prolonged eye contact are all the proof I need of your intentions. I must retire to the area designated for reserves now, but I wish you great success in your future endeavors."

You'll have to get past the fact that nobody's lips are moving during Collison and Adams' pregame handshake, but I like to think that's what the Oklahoma City Thunder's frontcourt pair would say to one another if speaking were allowed in their no-nonsense ritual.

The NBA's more elaborate, high-spirited pregame routines have nothing on this.

Marc Gasol Does a Cool Thing

Of all of the behind-the-head, no-look passes made by Spanish 7-footers, this was easily the best of the season.

Marc Gasol is an unfair combination of hulking size and balletic grace. He is a 5'11" water bug facilitator trapped inside the skin of a bruising, rim-protecting beast, and sometimes his little-man skills show through on plays like this.

We could have picked from any number of fast breaks featuring Gasol in the middle, conducting traffic and almost always making the right decision with the ball. But this play is just more fun, and it gets the point across about Gasol's otherworldly size-skill combination.

Whether it's wacky or not depends on how you define the term. Maybe it's not as silly or meme-worthy as some of the other moments we've included, but it sure makes you shake your head and click replay a few times.

That counts for something, right?

Cory Jefferson Misses Honorably

Cory Jefferson deserves a mountain of credit, which isn't something you'd typically say about the guy who shot the worst air ball of the 2014-15 season.

The reason: He didn't look down at his hands or wipe them on his shorts as if to indicate moisture caused the ball to slip. He didn't feign some kind of injury, bark at the officials for a missed foul call (there was none) or gaze up toward the ceiling in search of the open window that let in such a powerful draft.

A lot of guys go looking for excuses when they botch a shot as badly as Jefferson did.

He owned it.

There is sometimes honor in wackiness.