Anderson Varejão Dusts Off His Signature Flop in NBA Finals

The Cleveland Cavaliers surprised many by taking Games 5 and 6 of the NBA Finals, defeating Golden State on the road to extend an already unpredictable series.

While that 112-97 thumping in Game 5 featured a number of interesting subplots, Warriors' forward Anderson Varejão and his endless sprawling was difficult to ignore.

The former Cavalier and current method actor executed several painfully obvious flops in his eight-minutes-and-change of action, a few of them involving Cleveland guard Matthew Dellavedova.

One particularly egregious example featured Varejão grabbing Dellavedova by the neck and then hurling himself backwards onto the floor, flailing helplessly.

Of course, the Dubs' bench exploded in rage, asking for the foul. Somehow, Dellavedova did get whistled, as Varejão looked on sheepishly.

Have a look:

It's rather ironic that Dellavedova would be the victim of Varejão’s diabolical trickery. The scrappy guard is widely considered to be one of the dirtier players in the league, as one recent poll would indicate. However, the Anderson flop is a different animal altogether.

Later in the game, Varejão used his classic flop to draw a charging foul, falling backwards yet again before any contact was initiated. Dude's been perpetrating these on-court frauds for years now, but doing it during the NBA Finals somehow makes it seem more sordid.

Former coach and current analyst Jeff van Gundy even mentioned it during the game, observing several times that Varejão is a notorious flopper and wondering aloud why the officials would repeatedly give him the benefit of the doubt.

However, he did actually compliment Varejão on his never-wavering commitment to the art of the flop, which has been years in the making.

Many are not amused by Varejão and his wacky antics, including New York Giants’ wide receiver Odell Beckham, who used Twitter as a means to mock the slippin' Brazilian during the game, sharing sentiments no doubt shared by others.

The series will be wrapping up this Sunday, so make sure to catch Varejão at your local community theater during the offseason.