Image via Complex Original
There are untold millions of plays in any given sports year, most of which are immediately forgotten as soon as the whistle blows or the next batter comes to the plate. Some are remembered because they’re so epic—think Kyrie Irving’s NBA Finals-winning shot, Odell Beckham Jr.’s ludicrous catch, Jose Bautista’s homer and ensuing bat flip for the ages. These are not those plays. These are the other ones you remember, for the exact opposite reason.
Many bad things happen in sports. Not injuries, which are genuinely bad, but mishaps and misplays where even the most talented athletes in the world wind up looking like, for lack of a better word, chumps. You’ll find some everyday guys in here, to be sure, but you’ll also find an NFL MVP, a two-time (unanimous once!) NBA MVP, and a five-time Ballon d’Or winner. Even the best can be the worst.
J.R. Smith ignores basketball duties, daps Jason Terry instead.
Sport: Basketball
Date: November 29
J.R. Smith is the new Manny Ramirez. Crazy what winning does to the way an athlete is viewed, right? How do you walk off in the middle of a play to dap an opposing player siting on the bench? Ah, let's chalk it up to J.R. being J.R. Never mind that it was a close game during the second quarter. Tyronn Lue should've benched him for the rest of the game. —AD
Cam Newton makes a "business decision" during the Super Bowl.
Sport: Football
Date: February 7
People will always find something to dislike about Cam Newton. If they're not hating on his endzone dances, they're hating on his smiling. If it's not his smiling, it's his 21st century plantation owner clothing style. If it's not Cam dressing like Lyle Lanley, it's his hesitancy to dive on a fumble in the biggest game of his career. Look—some guys are dive-on-fumble guys and some guys are stay-healthy-and-cash-these-checks guys. Shoutout to Cam for staying true to himself. —MP
Steph Curry gets fancy, behind-the-back passes away a championship.
Sport: Basketball
Date: June 19
It's tough to fault Steph Curry for being, you know, Steph Curry, but with a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals mostly blown and a two-point Warriors lead in Game 7 with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter, this wasn't the best time to get fancy. Curry flicked a behind-the-back pass to the corner where he thought Klay Thompson was, which went out of bounds. Turnover. This didn't lose the game for them—LeBron James's block and Kyrie Irving's shot were still to come—but look at Thompson's body language as the pass sailed out of bounds. Good night. —RB
Brandon Jennings shows off the rare 11-step travel.
Sport: Basketball
Date: November 17
Do they even call travels in the NBA anymore? Brandon walked to the bodega for a butter roll and back, and Melo was still there waiting for him in front of the building. This probably falls on the ref more than it does Jennings, though. —AD
Sam Dekker dribbles off his face, out of bounds.
Sport: Basketball
Date: November 2
Outside of dying, this is maybe the worst thing that can happen to you on a basketball court. Sure there are broken ankles and dunk baptisms and a litany of other things that can embarrass you on a basketball court, but you know what? None of those are things you do to yourself. Sam Dekker didn't just blow two points for his team. He didn't just fall after tripping over his own feet. He didn't just turn the ball over against an inferior team in the world's most famous arena. He did all those things AND hit himself in the face with a basketball. This moment could only be topped if he somehow managed to hit himself in the balls, too. Maybe next year. —MP
Jose Altuve outruns himself going for the cycle.
Sport: Baseball
Date: June 25
Those pesky snipers sitting out in right field strike again. The Astros second baseman was trying to leg out a triple and secure his first career cycle, when he bit it hard rounding second base much to the delight of his teammates in the dugout. Basically the only thing more embarrassing than falling face first on the basepaths like this is pulling a Bill Buckner on a slow grounder. Not that anyone else on the Complex Sports staff would know about how pathetic pulling a stunt like that makes you feel in front of all your boys. —AC
Olympic gymnast breaks his leg.
Sport: Vault
Date: August 6
There was a healthy debate whether this one should be on our list, mostly from the crowd that couldn’t stomach the replay of Samir Ait Said gruesomely breaking his leg. But the argument that the French gymnast completed his vault in rather poor / disturbing / nauseating fashion earned this one its keep. —AC
Grayson Allen goes for the trip trifecta.
Sport: College Basketball
Date: December 21
Fuck this kid. Fuck Duke. Fuck Coach K. Fuck Christian Laetner. Bobby Hurley's cool (the Hurlerys are Jersey basketball royalty). Fuck J.J. Redick. Fuck every annoying white player the Blue Devils trot out there to cheat, bully, and sweep legs. This is like the third time Grayson has tripped an opposing player and he's just now getting suspended? He should be expelled. Or better yet, banished to D-III for his unsportsmanlike conduct. Then he throws a temper tantrum like he couldn't control his urges? Boy, if you don't get the fuck outta here. —AD
Tyrod Taylor lines up under guard.
Sport: Football
Date: October 9
Didn't look like T-Mobile was operating with full bars on this play. No reception. —MP
Messi misses penalty kick, considers quitting international play.
Sport: Soccer
Date: June 26
Watch a YouTube highlight reel of Leo Messi—any one will do—and marvel at his touch, his placement, his damn near magical ability to slot a ball in the exact place the keeper can't reach. His goal scoring is that of legend, and if he's not the best footballer on earth he's the second best. The only thing that has escaped him in his career has been national glory. This past summer in the Copa America Centeria Final, Messi stepped to the line first in a match that would be decided by penalties. The keeper guessed wrong, diving to his right as Messi shot left. And missed. —RB
Marcus Smart gives Academy Award-worthy flop performance.
Sport: Basketball
Date: April 22
You can say that Marcus Smart over-acted this flop, but that's only because you don't understand how strong NBA players are. Kyle Korver is an NBA enforcer. Always has been, always will be. Korver has been on every writer's "dark alley team" since he first entered the league, and it's rare you see someone willing to challenge one of the game's most intimidating figures. Kyle Korver laid Smart out on the baseline, just as he's done to any number of players throughout his career. This play is more about Kyle "Get Down Or Lay Down" Korver's strength than anything with Marcus Smart. Real fans know. —MP
South Carolina State returner forgets how touchbacks work.
Sport: College Football
Date: September 17
If you grew up watching football or playing Madden, you know how a touchback works. For whatever reason, South Carolina State returner Ahmaad Harris didn’t against Clemson and, in year filled with worthy candidates, earned 2016’s Most Egregious Fumble in a College or Professional Football Game Award. —AC
Hockey player somehow misses empty net goal.
Sport: Hockey
Date: August 19
I've never played hockey a day of my life unless it was on a video game console and I would've made that. He wanted to be cute by trying to dribble the puck like he was AI on Ice and came through with the one of the worst fails of the year. Salute! This is why you aren't in the big leagues, my guy. —AD
Japanese pole vaulter DQ'd by D.
Sport: Olympics
Date: August 16
Over the years, sports apparel brands have made great advancements in everything from basketball uniforms to track suits to swimsuits, giving athletes of today advantages that their predecessors could have only dreamed of. Gear is lighter, stays drier, and, in some cases, is more aerodynamic. Now, we're not suggesting this Japanese pole vaulter would have won if his suit was more, well, restrictive. But it's something worth looking into before 2020 nonetheless. —RB
B-Hop gets knocked into the center of the earth.
Sport: Boxing
Date: December 18
Hopkins will go down as one of the best boxers in history, but I can’t think of a worse way to close out the last bout of your Hall of Fame career than GETTING KNOCKED OUT OF THE RING. Of course the 51-year-old Hopkins should have hung up the gloves a long time ago, but it’s boxing we’re talking about here and The Executioner couldn’t help himself when presented with one last payday. Hopefully the money was worth the ignominy of suffering your first ever knockout. Hopkins claimed after the fight that Joe Smith Jr. didn’t knock him out, rather it was more of a case of Smith “throwing me out of the ring.” Nah, fam. —AC
