15 Worst Floppers in NBA History

Next to LeBron James, there are no players despised more by the NBA community than the ones who flop.

Flopping is the "art" of exaggerating contact when coming into contact with another player of the opposite team in order to have a foul charged on the opposition.

It isn't beloved by the NBA community because of the belief that faking an injury is a bailout to playing defense. It's not a respected aspect of the game to possess and fans frown upon it when seeing it committed.

Many players can do this from time to time, but others have made this a huge attribute to their games and utilize it to their advantage on a regular basis.

It was believed to have been started in the NBA in the early 1980's and is derived from soccer where players frequently flop in order to give their team time to rest while also forcing the official to whistle the other team for a warning or a foul.

Some of these players are either Hall of Famers or future Hall of Famers, but will still be remembered because of their tendency to flop.

These 15 players will never truly get the full respect of the NBA community until either they choose to stop, referees eventually catch on more frequently, or the fan bases accept it as a part of the game.

You can follow John Friel on twitter @JohnFtheheatgod

He's not too notorious of a flopper, but Baron Davis will forever be in flopping lore for the move he pulled against the Utah Jazz's center Mehmet Okur.

As Davis went to go take the ball from the idle Okur, Baron then crashed out of nowhere and fell as if Okur's body was made out of electricity.

We will forgive Baron, but we will never forget.

Worst case of flopping: Davis with the flop of all flops

An exceptional defender who can sometimes get a little carried away, Raja Bell has always prided himself on his man-to-man defense.

We also can't forget about his exceptional ability to flop around, either.

The floppers always seem to be the ones that play hard defense at all times, but then somehow get pushed around when they're ready to flop instead of playing defense. Bell is no exception, as he has utilized his specialty on a number of extremely annoying occasions.

Worst instance of flopping: Ginobili gets a taste of his own medicine

Yes, even 'the king' is guilty of flopping once or twice.

Or three or four times even. Forget it, LeBron James flops around way too much for a player that is often described as one of the league's top athletes. It makes it even more disappointing considering that the strength that he exhibits on his drives somehow disappears the moment James decides to flail around looking for a foul call.

Referees should never fall for a 6'8", 250 pound behemoth falling to the ground when getting bodied by a player no matter how big or small.

Worst case of flopping: There's a sniper at the American Airlines Arena

Even the superstars get in on the act of flopping as Chris Paul exhibits signs that he too has watched a few many soccer games in between basketball.

Paul may be regarded as arguably the best point guard currently playing on offense and defense, but he's also a notorious flopper and does so like a veteran who's been spending too much time with Bill Laimbeer or Vlade Divac.

Flopping can help a players game by drawing offensive fouls and frustrating their opponent, but players like CP3 should stay far away from this practice.

Worst case of flopping: Chris Paul gets pushed around by the Oklahoma City Thunder

An outstanding point guard who has become such thanks to the veteran influences surrounding him, Rajon Rondo has a bright future ahead of him if he can transition this play to a team without Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

He must have taken a few extra lessons with Paul Pierce because he's certainly taken the acting aspect of his game.

Rondo utilizes that small frame of his by drawing fouls against bigger players and has done so against the likes of LeBron James.

Worst instance of flopping: Rondo dives into James Jones

Pau Gasol without a doubt got toughened up by Phil Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers since making the move from Memphis.

While Gasol's physical defense has improved, his ability to flop has gone up as well. He's regarded today as one of the most notorious flopping big men and has proved to us many times that he's the second coming of Vlade Divac when doing so.

Gasol is just another international player giving our overseas friends a bad name.

Worst instance of flopping: Pau Gasol flops due to Kevin Garnett being next to him

When you're getting called out as a 'studio gangster' or an actress, the chances are likely that you have done something to deserve those titles.

Paul Pierce may be an outstanding athlete with a Hall of Fame-worthy career, but he most certainly does act from time to time. He became a renowned flopper during the Boston Celtics 2008 NBA Finals appearance against the Los Angeles Lakers.

With the Celtics and Lakers going back and forth, Pierce suffered an injury during the third quarter so catastrophic that he had to be taken out on a wheelchair.

Pierce would miraculously return a few moments later and inspire the Celtics to an easy win over the Lakers.

Sorry, Paul, you're not Willis Reed.

Worst instance of flopping: Paul Pierce pulls a Nancy Kerrigan

Robert Horry made a career out of two aspects: hitting the biggest shots of the game and being one of the league's worst floppers.

Horry may be a seven-time champion with the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, and San Antonio Spurs, but he's also probably taken home a few Tony Awards for the acting job that he has done on some occasions.

Opponents of Horry only seem to notice him on the floor during the game whenever he draws a foul, or in the final minute of the game when he's hitting the big shot to end any hope of their team's victory. This guy loves adding insult to injury.

Worst instance of flopping: Jeff Van Gundy gets real with Robert Horry 

Easily one of the best three-point shooters ever to step onto an NBA court, Reggie Miller also made quite the career out of flailing his wiry frame around at any given moment.

Having that wiry frame gave Miller the advantage when it came to flopping since he could easily sell someone as skinny as himself getting pushed around by just about anyone.

Miller even revolutionized a different style of flopping by perfecting the leg kick. The leg kick basically involves you going up for a normal jump shot, but then sticking your leg to make contact with the defender nearest to you to get the automatic foul.

Worst instance of flopping: Gus Johnson calls Reggie out

At this point in his career, Derek Fisher doesn't have much to contribute aside from his leadership and the ability to hit the big shot when called upon.

Oh, and he's still flopping at a ridiculous rate, of course.

The longtime Los Angeles Laker point guard and five-time champion has become notorious for flopping and initiating contact by either diving into players or just acting as if he got shot by a tank cannon.

For someone who appears strong, Fisher flails around like a fish out of water.

Worst instance of flopping: Paul Millsap 'throws' Derek Fisher

The majority of the players on this list at least have some positive attributes to them aside from flopping.

Anderson Varejao's main attribute is flopping. His entire game is based around on his ability to draw offensive fouls and frustrate the hell out of his opponent until they can take no more.

Varejao has become one of the most despised players in the league outside of Cleveland because of his tendency to fall at the slightest sign of contact and because of just how much of a part of his game that he has made it out to be.

Worst instance of flopping: Varejao gets thrown by someone nearly half a foot shorter

One of the first players even to bring about flopping to the game of basketball, enforcer Danny Ainge brought more to the Boston Celtics of the 1980s than just hard-nosed defense.

Ainge was notorious for complaining to referees when flops weren't called for him and was the predecessor of flopping before Bill Laimbeer even thought of bringing it up.

The flopping trend in Boston lives on through the original flopper in Ainge.

Worst instance of flopping: Not a flop, but here he is throwing a basketball at the head of another player

One of the first NBA players to revolutionize the practice of flopping, former Detroit Pistons enforcer Bill Laimbeer gave everyone outside of Detroit just another reason to hate him.

Rather than the usual cases of Laimbeer playing defense that sometimes went too far or getting in fights with just about every match-up he ever had, the forward then became a notorious flopper that would get on the nerves of even more players and fans.

Hall of Fame-worthy defender and rebounder? Absolutely. One of the worst floppers of all time? You better believe it.

One of the first Europeans to make the game of basketball look like soccer, Vlade Divac made flopping famous during his playing career in the 1990's and early 2000's.

The Serbian-born power forward and center would flop at the slightest sign of contact and made life a nightmare for centers around the league, as he would utilize his greatest strength by falling once the bigger player attempted to post up.

Divac was feared in the post, but for all the wrong reasons.

Worst case of flopping: An entire video dedicated to his art

A crafty player who has been a member of three championship teams, Manu Ginobili no doubt deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame for arguably being one of the best international players ever to play in the NBA.

He'll get his own statue outside of the Flopping Hall of Fame once his career is said and done.

Ginobili picked up where Divac left off by being the second international player to make flopping a major part of their game. Manu takes it to a whole other level, however, as he seemingly flops at every single sign of contact.

It gets on a lot of players' nerves and it makes it even worse considering that he nearly gets away with it every time.

Ginobili's flopping is so bad that he gives Cristiano Ronaldo tips.

Worst case of flopping: You've been Ginobili'd

The worst part of it by far? The officials actually called an offensive foul on Carlos Boozer.

Shame, NBA officiating and Chris Bosh...shame.