He first caught a lot of flak for essentially ripping Kevin Loves shoulder out of its socket during the 2014-15 playoffs. Just like wade and cp3 are/were. Metta World Peace hardly even needs an explanation, does he? Bruce Greenwood began his professional NBA career in France playing for various teams in the French League. The longtime Celtic will forever be known in Houston when he threw a ball at the face of the Rockets' Mario Elie back in the 1994 Finals. A record thats yet to be broken nor matched. Pauls most recent groin-related offense was against Jose Alvarado during the 2021-22 postseason. In college, while playing for the Duke Blue Devils, Allen also had a reputation for being a dirty player. In 1991, when Isiah Thomas tried to penetrate on a drive, Malone attempted to block the shot but gave Thomas 40 stitches in his eye instead. The most recent example is his outrageous elbowing of James Harden. It is hard to say whether it was inadvertent or not (doubt that) but nonetheless, he is a dirty player. Sometimes, one incident is good enough to secure your place in infamy. He doesnt rack up nearly as many fouls, although hes still an intimidating player. The "X-Man" had a 13-year NBA career with Seattle, Phoenix, New York, Boston, and New Jersey. WebNBA History: 5 dirtiest players of the 21st century. Who is Michael Jordan? On the other hand, you have people who are constantly complaining that the NBA is becoming too soft. What was even more excruciating for opponents is that Kobe frequently got foul calls when he initiated the illegal contact. One of the best point guards of all time, John Stockton Not only build a reputation for himself as one of the greatest playmakers but also As a headhunter and a booty shorts wearer. He's also chronically slapping opponents on his follow through. After all, every weekend they enter our TV screens and put on entertaining performances that we all love to watch. Though the league has tried to crack down on this in recent years, there's still a significant presence of "underhandedness" in the modern NBA. In college when he was at Oklahoma State University, he shoved a fan who was in the stands. Virtually nothing was sacred to Garnett, who intimidated opponents night in and night out with his words and actions at the same time. He doesnt see himself as dirty.. Here are the 25 NBA players who have built their careers on playing dirty. But he did make his (dirty) mark in the league in other ways. Widely remembered for coining the phrase Ball Dont Lie, Rasheed Wallace was undoubtedly one of the top names in the NBA during his playing days. Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul are merely learningwhat Stockton mastered. Its truly hard to imagine that Garnett would ultimately turn into one of the dirtiest players in the history of the NBA. It worked. Before there was Bruce Bowen and Ron Artest/Metta World Peace there was Scottie Pippen. Wallace didn't take the gesture lightly. Charles Oakley was one of the greatest intimidators in the history of the NBA. A lot of NBA players have thrown punches. Again, I point to the Jerry Sloan School of Dirty Play. Regarded as one of the best lockdown perimeter defenders of all time, Bruce Bowens ability to read plays hard-nosed playing Style made him an elite defender. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. You can't blame people for having emotions but when they start to direct their anger towards other players, it becomes dangerous. He took some heat for those comments because they were inappropriate - but not because they were inaccurate. From Washington's perspective though, he was in a fight and Tomjanovich is running at him and so he throws a punch. Oakley never saw a foul that he didn't like, and he dished them out like Santa Claus at Christmas. 15 years ago, the infamous MALICE IN THE PALACE!A hard foul between Ben Wallace and Ron Artest led to arguably the biggest fan-player brawl in sports history SUSPENSIONS:Ron Artest: 86Stephen Jackson: 30Jermaine ONeal: 15Ben Wallace: 6Anthony Johnson: 5 pic.twitter.com/fmrbFk94Jq. The unwarranted hit by LeBron is so loud that you can hear it on the broadcast. So how do you compare them? Nick Young and Tony Allen have both called Adams a sneaky dirty player. These players would stop at nothing to win a basketball game even at the expense of an opponents well-being. pic.twitter.com/vbQ5j3TBvf. Its the toughness of many of these players that saw them earn a spot in some of the best teams in the NBA. Westbrook suffered a torn meniscus after a brutal collision with Beverley. @stephenasmith and @maxkellerman clash over whether or not Patrick Beverley is a dirty player. World Peace (Artest) got suspended for the rest of the regular season and playoffs. At a Pacers vs. Pistons game during the 2004 season, Ben Wallace drove to the basket for a layup and believed he got fouled a little too hard by Artest. As a member of the Boston Celtics franchise, Kevin Garnett ultimately became their designated hitman, taking out opponents with elbows and unexpected swings. The Top Five NBA Playoff Scoring Performances of All-Time, NEXT: The 10 Greatest NBA Players of All Time, The 25 Greatest WWE Wrestlers of All Time, WWE Salary: Highest Paid Wrestlers, Richest Wrestlers, Lowest Paid Wrestlers, Referee Earnings. WebThey were cut from the same cloth, a fabric sewn by their coach, Jerry Sloan, who was also a dirty player of note back in his playing days. He is an American-based entrepreneur and former professional basketball player renowned for playing for fifteen seasons in the NBA and winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, among many other honours. By the peak of his NBA career, Dennis Rodman was not only named Into the all-NBA defensive team but also received the NBA defensive Player of the Year award on two separate occasions. Due to the style of play, many of the teams during this period had a designated hitman and many of the players on this list fitted the profile. But if the sport is going to be popular, it needs to contain its share of villains, too. That's the very emblem of Pierce's dirty play. In 1991 during a regular NBA season with the Detroit Pistons Karl Malone ended up knocking Isaiah Thomas with the head using his elbow which resulted in Thomas receiving more than 40 stitches. That completed the biggest collapse in NBA history, after the Warriors surrendered a 3-1 series lead, only to squander it. He had a rough time early in his life, and it most likely shapes his attitude on the court. Kobe Bryant. But he's more than just a big mouth. DeMarcus Cousins is certainly one of the biggest whiners in the NBA but dirty might not come to mind when Cousins name is brought up. Cousins needs to grow up, he isnt a kid anymore. As luck would have it both Boeing received a 10-day contract by the Miami Heat in 1997. Continue with Recommended Cookies, Last updated on May 8th, 2022 at 11:11 am. The injury required surgery to repair the damage. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. The rules were different and the idea of a dirty player didn't even exist. He bumped, prodded, slapped, snatched and scratched as much as anyone ever has. Here's a fun game. If there were an official stat for sneaky little pushes in the small of the back to gain positioning for rebounds Duncan would be the NBA's all-time leader. As a member of the self-proclaimed Bad Boys of the NBA, the Detroit Pistons Dennis Rodman often embraced the teams Top style of play which included Stopping the opponent at all costs. He received a technical foul and threw a tantrum. In the end however, Bogut says that he doesnt care that he is labeled as dirty. Dillon Brooks When even one of your fellow players deems you the dirtiest player in the league, we have to place you 3. Apart from grabbing jerseys, these players also soccer punched opponents and in some cases pushed other players from behind in a discreet and sometimes not very discreet manner. ADAPTED BY SAM. All Rights Reserved. During his NBA career, Ron Artest played for six different teams and gained a reputation for his lockdown defense. Many believe Adams is a gentle giant, but weve seen his dark side too. He blocks every shot that goes up when the shot clock ends just so the opponent can see it not go in. 25. Barnes is even dirty off of the court. Dellavedova is known for throwing cheap shots and harming other players. Soon both teams got involved in an all-out brawl. I consider Chris Paul to be one of the dirty NBA players because hes the king of groin shots. During his early years in the NBA, Kevin Garnett was undoubtedly one of the nicest players in the league. Thanks to Draymond Greens dirty play, well never know if the Warriors would have won Game 5 had he been on the court. However, despite being one of the best players on the 21/04/2023 - 12:34 CDT. Some say that he is merely reckless. In other instances, they would even slip their foot underneath other players when they were taking jump shots. Garnett certainly has the "killer" mentality. Chris Paul is another one of those "yippy" point guards who is constantly reaching in, slapping wrists and hands, and getting away with a litany of fouls on the defensive end. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. In 1997 and 1998 John Stockton teamed up with Karl Malone leading the Utah Jazz to its only two-finals appearances in the franchise history before ultimately losing to the Chicago Bulls. Mahorn subscribed to the "no ticky-tack" fouls rule, since he was known for making all of his six fouls count. Draymond Green, Chris Paul and Dillon Brooks are among them. Whats ironic about these so-called dirty, unscrupulous players is that they are also among the best in the game defensively. If you need to fire a warning shot at a team, there's not many better players to have on your pine than Kurt Thomas. Thats what makes him one of the dirties NBA players right now. There's legal jockeying for position and there's illegal jockeying for position and a lot of times it's illegal with Howard. In 2012 Ron Artest came close to decapitating James Hardens head. If you tried to get in the paint, Thomas would get physical with you. It's not about Chris Kaman grabbing the junk of an opponent going for a rebound. Sheed even got 41 in the 2000-01 season, which is also a record. He also did The release of Netflixs Untold: Malice at the Palace documentary early this month showed the ugly side of the NBA, with Metta Sandiford-Artest, aka Ron Artest at the center of the disgraceful incident. You know that skinny dude in school who was a mouthy little jerk, but nobody could touch him a lesson because he had big brothers or large friends? But the fact that his tight defense sometimes ends up with someone getting hurt, Delly has to play differently at the defensive end to keep from inflicting harm on his opponents. COMPLEX participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means COMPLEX gets paid commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. WebThe NBA markets its stars better than any other sports organization in North America. Alongside John Stockton, Karl Malone made one of the most formidable duos in the NBA. JOS LUIS MARTNEZ. #5 Draymond Green. This list is more about who is good at being dirty than it is a recounting of the hardest fouls or most famous violent instances in NBA history. In the same year, Ron Artest was also involved in an altercation with Pat Riley, The Miami Heat coach at the time leading to a four-game suspension. Like being an effective scorer and Elise Defender Karl Malone often at times Was at the center of dirty plays. But he has also been voted the dirtiest by coaches, assistants, and players. That was his job. Because of that he gets away with being dirty. This is the guy that slung Kirk Heinrich into the scorers table and got away with it. One footballer may be a horrible tackler while another likes diving. If there was an elbow to be thrown, Laimbeer was only too glad to throw it. Fun fact: Wallace was traded to Atlanta in February of 2004, played in one game, and was then traded to Detroit. Ian Kennedy (@IanKennedyCK) May 22, 2021 If you don't, it's just dirty. Unlike today, the NBA was less strict in the 90s and 80s and thus many of the antics used by the Detroit Pistons often went unpunished. He noted that he has never injured anyone even though he may foul hard or set hard screens. WebSo with that explanation, here are the 25 dirtiest players in NBA history. I'm sure that dirty wouldn't even cross your mind if these guys played in the 80s or 90s, that's just how the game used to be. He was so good at it that even Gary Payton, who has never been confused with a mild-mannered individual, called Stockton one of the dirtiest players in the game. Period. WebKevin Garnett is a player that in a 5 year stretch (01-05) was averaging 23/5/13/1.4/1.7 on +2.7 rTS while being one of the 5 best defenders in NBA history and while being one of the most portable star players ever with one of the worst Supporting Casts in league history.