Injuries are a serious matter in the NBA. In fact, a serious injury can threaten a player’s basketball career. Nevertheless, some NBA players have pretended to be injured in order to gain some sort of upper-hand. On the other hand, some players just needed to do it for personal reasons. For this piece, let’s take a look at five NBA players who faked their injuries.

Vince Carter

Vince Carter is known as half-man, half-amazing. But in this case, the then-36 year old Carter made use of a little deception. After missing a fadeaway, the Mavericks secured the offensive board. But while Darren Collison was dribbling for the final possession of the half, Carter looked like he twisted his ankle. Because of this, Harrison Barnes slacked on defense as it initially appeared that Carter wouldn't be involved in the possession. However, after Barnes gave him space, Carter cut to the open baseline and went in for a smooth two-handed jam.

Although Vince Carter finished the game with 22 points off the bench, the Warriors still had the last laugh, beating them 100-97. It was still a sly maneuver by the former Slam Dunk Contest champion.

Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler was lauded for being the leader of the Miami Heat squad that went on to represent the Eastern Conference in the 2020 NBA Finals. During the 2020-2021 season, Butler wanted to do everything in order for the Heat to return to the NBA Finals. This included trying to sell a flagrant foul after he was fouled by Julius Randle in the crucial moments of the game.

After the foul, Butler seemed to be dealing with an eye-injury until he peaked to see if the refs were buying it. The laugh that followed after was a clear sign that he was totally fine. Although the referees didn’t give the flagrant, the Heat still came away with the victory, 98-96. Butler finished with 26 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds.

After the game, Butler publicly announced to the media that he took a page from his good friend and Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg for the hilarious skit.

Vernon Maxwell

Vernon Maxwell was part of the Houston Rockets championship teams that accomplished a back-to-back during the 1990's. With the Bulls’ dynasty during that decade, the Rockets were the only franchise to win an NBA championship in that stretch with the squad composed of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Sam Cassell, Kenny Smith, and Vernon Maxwell. They comprised the very few NBA players to win a title during Michael Jordan's reign.

Maxwell wasn’t all too pleased with the arrival of Clyde Drexler, as he lost his starting role and his minutes on the floor started to diminish. Unhappy with the situation, Maxwell engaged in dramatic encounters such as punching a fan in Portland and then faking a leg injury in Game 1 against the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 1995 Playoffs.

After the dramatic events involving the shooting guard, Maxwell would be waived and eventually joined several more franchises including the Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, Sacramento Kings, Seattle Supersonics, and the Dallas Mavericks. Years later, the now-retired shooting guard confessed that he regrets leaving the Rockets especially after forfeiting $25 million in salary.

Gilbert Arenas

During his days with the Washington Wizards, Gilbert Arenas was involved in a lot of the dysfunctional antics and shenanigans. Arenas faking an injury was one of them. When the Wizards were scheduled to host the Atlanta Hawks in the first game of the preseason, Arenas admitted to faking a sore knee. The three time All-Star was fined by the team for a sum of $50,000.

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Based on reports, Arenas faked the injury in order to give minutes to fellow teammate Nick Young. Fortunately, even without Arenas, the Wizards got the job done. Young, who claimed to have no knowledge about Arenas’ plans, dropped 24 points in the 107-92 preseason victory over the Hawks.

Two days after faking an injury, Arenas would go on to suffer a real groin injury, three minutes into the game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Those were just Washington Wizards things back in the day.

Paul Pierce

In Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals, Paul Pierce dropped a solid 22 points. However, aside from his scoring, people were also interested to know more about his wheelchair incident. After Kobe Bryant scored on a tough runner, Pierce was seen hitting the hardwood and favoring his knee. As a result, Pierce was seen exiting the court on the infamous wheelchair. In the second half, Pierce returned to the game which led to a 98-88 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1.

As we all know, Pierce and the Celtics would win the franchise’s 17th NBA championship, with Pierce as the Finals MVP. Years later, the Finals MVP made a confession that he wasn’t injured during the wheelchair incident. Instead, Pierce admitted that he needed to use the bathroom.