The 7 Most Iconic Flops in Sports History

Sometimes the best acting in sports does not happen in a pregame commercial, or even modern studio shows. 

It happens after a lightly kicked ball, a brush of contact near the basket or an opponent’s stick passing somewhere in the general vicinity of a player’s face.

This is not a ranking of teams choking away leads. It is a celebration of diving and embellishment so brazen that the replay becomes more famous than the game. 

The biggest flops are not always the most consequential. They are the ones that remain funny after every new camera angle confirms the original ruling probably should not have happened.

What makes a flop iconic?

Soccer, sometimes unfairly, has a reputation as a game full of flops. The modern NBA is also rife with players earning reputations as actors in much the same way.

But the best flops have a few things in common: minimal contact, maximum reaction and a visual that needs no explanation. 

And stakes help, of course. So does an official buying it, a punishment afterward or a meme that lives forever.

7. P.K. Subban vs. the Blues, 2017

P.K. Subban had enough history with the NHL’s diving-and-embellishment rules that his inclusion is less about one isolated tumble and more about an established genre.

But during Nashville’s 2017 playoff series against St. Louis, Subban tangled with Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson. Edmundson received two minutes for roughing, while Subban was also called for embellishment. 

The NHL later fined Subban $2,000 for his second violation of the season.

That made it a particularly clean hockey entry: The officials saw enough contact to penalize Edmundson, but enough performance from Subban to punish him, too. Subban had previously been a three-time offender in 2014–15, when he was with Montreal, including a $3,000 fine for his third citation.

6. Nick Bonino vs. T.J. Oshie, 2017

Hockey flops are hard to pull off because everyone is wearing pads, moving at high speed and hitting hard. That is what made Nick Bonino’s 2017 playoff embellishment so memorable.

In Pittsburgh’s series against Washington, Bonino sold a high-stick penalty against T.J. Oshie. Replays showed Oshie never actually hit Bonino in the face. The call stood, leaving the Capitals shorthanded in a postseason game because Bonino reacted to contact that never happened.

It is nearly a perfect example of hockey’s version of simulation. A player knows a stick near the face is one of the most reflexively called fouls in the sport, then supplies the missing evidence himself.

5. Marcus Smart vs. Toronto, 2020

Marcus Smart is a defensive savant and one of basketball’s all-time irritants. Those two facts often overlap, like in Game 2 of Boston’s 2020 playoff series against Toronto. 

Smart made minor contact with Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, fell to the floor and drew an offensive foul that erased a Fred VanVleet transition layup. Toronto challenged. Video review overturned the call, restored the basket and awarded Siakam a free throw. The NBA followed with a $5,000 fine for Smart.

This is one of the rare flops with a complete narrative arc. The initial success, the replay exposure and the league’s postgame confirmation. Smart briefly got away with it. Technology did not let him keep the reward.

4. Neymar’s 2018 World Cup

Neymar’s place on this list is not based on one flop, but an entire tournament.

Brazil’s star was fouled repeatedly at the 2018 World Cup, and not every reaction was fake. But the scale and theatricality became their own global storyline. 

Swiss broadcaster RTS calculated Neymar spent 13.5 minutes on the ground through Brazil’s first four matches, a tally that became “14 minutes” in the global meme economy.

By the time Brazil exited in the quarterfinals, Neymar rolling on the grass had inspired parodies, advertising campaigns and a widespread shorthand for embellishment. That is why he ranks this high.

3. LeBron James and David West, 2013

A great flop is usually a solo performance. LeBron James and David West made it collaborative.

During Game 4 of the 2013 Eastern Conference finals, the Heat’s James and Indiana’s West made contact while battling for position. Both immediately hit the floor. No foul was called on the play, but the NBA reviewed it afterward and fined each player $5,000 for violating its anti-flopping policy. 

The double flop is the reason it endures. Neither player’s reaction makes sense unless the other player is also trying to sell an invisible crime. It looks less like a basketball sequence than a stunt rehearsal gone wrong.

2. Dida vs. a Celtic supporter, 2007

This is one of the strangest clips in soccer history because it requires several acts.

After Celtic scored a late Champions League winner, a supporter ran onto the field and made light contact with AC Milan goalkeeper Dida. Dida initially chased him. Then, after the fan had moved away, the goalkeeper collapsed and was eventually taken off on a stretcher.

The field invasion was a real security failure, and Celtic banned the supporter for life. But UEFA also found that Dida had feigned injury, initially suspending him for two Champions League matches before reducing the ban to one on appeal.

The delayed collapse is what makes it legendary. Dida’s first instinct was pursuit. His second was theater.

1. Rivaldo vs. Turkey, 2002

Rivaldo is the undisputed champion because his flop checked every box. 

World Cup stage? Check. 

Obvious exaggeration? Check. 

Major officiating consequence? Check. 

Formal FIFA punishment? Check. 

Late in Brazil’s 2–1 win over Turkey, Hakan Ünsal kicked the ball toward Rivaldo as the Brazilian waited to take a corner. The ball hit Rivaldo around the legs. Rivaldo then collapsed while clutching his face. Ünsal received a second yellow card and was sent off.

FIFA later reviewed the footage, found Rivaldo guilty of flopping and fined him, though it did not suspend him. The entire moment lasts seconds. The gap between where the ball lands and where Rivaldo claims to be injured is enough to explain why it has survived as soccer’s defining flop.

The war on flopping

Leagues have more cameras than ever, but embellishment remains stubbornly useful because officials still have to make split-second judgments.

The NBA’s anti-flopping policy uses escalating discipline, with the first regular-season violation bringing a warning, followed by fines up to $30,000 and potential suspension. 

The NHL tracks diving and embellishment through a citation system, with fines increasing for repeat conduct and possible coach penalties for teams that continue to accumulate violations.

Soccer treats simulation intended to deceive officials as a yellow-card offense, while VAR can correct some consequential errors. 

But replay has not ended the flop. It has just made the best ones easier to replay, freeze-frame and laugh at forever.