When Nazr Mohammed lost his mind on Friday night and put LeBron James on the floor with a two-hand shove, we were kind of shocked by the amount of people we heard from on the site/Twitter/Facebook calling ‘Bron an actor, saying he was flopping. Huh? Nazr is a huge, very strong guy, who in the moment was blind with rage – of course he’s strong enough to take down all 6-8, 250 pounds of LeBron when he’s not ready for it. But there it was from fans and Bulls players alike, mocking James for flopping.

So why the skepticism and outrage? Well, you can argue that James has brought it on himself. Some of his work in the flopping department over the years rivals the work of Manu Ginobili and Derek Fisher, the Obi-Wan and Yoda of Flopping [Check out The NBA’s Top 20 Flops and Fisher’s title as the NBA’s Worst Flopper], and it seems to have ramped up in the last two years.

Check out LeBrons 11 Greatest Flops:

The LeBron Going for a Loose Ball With J.R. Smith Flop:

The Derrick Rose “My Eye” Flop:

The Dion Waiters Hit the Deck and Pop Right Back Up Flop:

The Danny Granger Has Super Strength Flop from 2012 NBA Playoffs:

The Crunch time Against the Lakers Flop in 2011:

One of the flops that started it all, the “Who Shot ‘Ya?” Phoenix Suns Flop from 2010:

The Getting Rewarded for Flopping When His Own Man Hits Him Flop:

The Lance Stephenson Phantom Elbow Flop:

The Legendary Pacers “Trap” Flop from the 2012 Playoffs:

The Classic Mavericks-Run-Out-Of-Bounds-Flop in the 2011 NBA Finals:





And the grandaddy of them all, the one James flop that seems to get people more angry than any other in his portfolio:

The Tyson Chandler Back Pick Epic Flop from the 2012 NBA Playoffs:

If there is a defense to be made, it’s that many, many other NBA players of all levels do the same exact thing. The spotlight on James just happens to be white-hot because he’s not only the best player in the game, but also one of it’s most polarizing.

For his part, here is what James said to the AP yesterday when asked about his flopping:

“I don’t need to flop. I play an aggressive game. I don’t flop. I’ve never been one of those guys.”

Is LeBron’s flopping any worse than any other NBA player doing the same thing?

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