Such is the nature of competitive sport, that often, the will to win can spill over and cause serious trouble. The NBA is no different, and throughout its history, there have been several instances of fights and arguments breaking out over what players deem to be flagrant fouls. Whether it's pushing a player in mid-air as they take off for a lay-up or dunk, or stamping on a player on the floor a la Draymond Green, the NBA has had its fair share of serious foul play.
Some players have even earned a reputation as being among the dirtiest players in the game, and whether it was from playing in the more physical era of the 1980s or 1990s where fouls went unchecked, or in modern times, where the NBA's desire to restrict players' personalities has just exacerbated tensions, the league has been home to some serious troublemakers.
With that in mind, below is a ranking of the 10 dirtiest NBA players of all-time.
Ranking Factors
Persistent flagrant fouls or dirty plays rather than one-off incidents
Suspensions or fines for acts committed
Reputation in and around the league
10 Metta World Peace
Ron Artest
Even putting aside what happened at 'Malice at the Palace', former Los Angeles Lakers star Metta World Peace - also known as Ron Artest - was one of the league's dirtiest players. A hard fouler who would put serious venom into whatever act he was about to commit, he completely blindsided James Harden with a violent elbow which would result in a seven-game suspension being handed down from the league.
All in all, he would be suspended a total of 12 times across his career, including the 86-game one for his involvement at 'Malice at the Palace'. Another incident saw him being suspended for a game in the playoffs while he was with the Sacramento Kings for elbowing Manu Ginobili in a first-round series.
9 Kevin Garnett
The king of trash-talking and mouthing off, Kevin Garnett appeared to play in his own bubble, muttering expletives up and down the court and taking it personally whenever anyone tried to score on him. The Boston Celtics icon was one of the toughest guys of the 2000s, and intimated most players across the league.
Known for slapping players in the groin when going up for jump shots, and blocking shots after the shot clock had expired, Garnett was a man possessed from minute one to minute 48. A dream teammate given his will to win and charisma, he was an absolute nightmare if you had the misfortune of coming up against him.
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8 Charles Oakley
While being seen as a dirty player in the eyes of opposition teams is one thing, for New York Knicks icon, Charles Oakley, didn't seem to care at all, and instead relished the mantle of being his team's enforcer on the court. Speaking on a podcast, former NBA star Richard Jefferson said:
Oak said, ‘If I don’t do this, then they don’t pay me and I don’t get to beat—So, I’m doing this for my job. So, you can keep sending those fines but just know, that my role is,’ In hockey, they call him a goon, in basketball they call him an enforcer. So, he’s like, ‘This is my job. So, I will accept the fines. I’ll pay the $100,000 fine because I’m making $2 million.
Indeed, back in the April 1997 edition of Sports Illustrated, a panel of 29 players, coaches and executives were asked who the league's dirtiest player was, and Oakley would finish third (Dennis Rodman and John Stockton being the only two above him in the poll).
7 Grayson Allen
For someone as baby-faced as Grayson Allen, his reputation in the NBA as one of the league's dirtiest players precedes him. Having already started to make a name for himself during his days at Duke, Allen would then proceed to set about becoming one of the most disliked players in the league.
Whether it was hitting Gary Trent Jr in the groin on a jump shot, or pulling Alex Caruso out of the air by grabbing his arms, Allen has not shied away from committing the kind of fouls that many would deem more serious than simply being 'flagrant'. Allen himself, meanwhile, has spoken about the tag he seems to have been labelled with, saying:
I think most of it comes from Duke. I always say I did a ton of self-reflection back when I was at Duke, 99 percent of it was just immaturity and me being a kid in a man’s sport and a man’s position and just wasn’t ready to handle it.
6 Karl Malone
One of the greatest power forwards the game has ever seen, Karl Malone perhaps didn't have a standout 'dirtiest play' moment in his career, but more than made up for it with little elbows here, there and everywhere. The Mailman's brute strength and power made him a nightmare for opposition players anyway, but the sheer force he would go up with to try and claim a rebound made him a serious danger for anyone near him.
Players who had to face up against Malone nearly always walked away with some scars from the battle, while he also had some eye-catching tussles with the Chicago Bulls' Dennis Rodman.
5 Dikembe Mutombo
Dikembe Mutombo
An NBA Hall of Famer and one of the kindest and generous players to grace the league, Dikembe Mutombo's personality off the court was as polar opposite as you could get to what he was like on it. Despite having the personality of the big, friendly giant, Mutombo - armed with his iconic finger wag after every block - was no stranger to letting his elbows fly.
In fact, according to ESPN, Mutombo ended up injuring at least 25 players through his elbow, with his first offence in November 1991 against Ricky Pierce, leaving the latter needing 12 stitches to his forehead. Other notable victims included Michael Jordan, Chris Webber and Yao Ming.
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4 Dennis Rodman
A vital part of the Chicago Bulls' legendary success during the 1990s, Dennis Rodman did all the hard work, graft and ugly things that then allowed the likes of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to dominate on the offensive end. The ultimate hustle player, Rodman's initial arrival in Chicago did raise some eyebrows among the Bulls' lead duo, with Pippen saying:
So, in the summer of 1995, when Phil asked how I felt about the possibility of the Bulls acquiring Dennis, who was then 34, I didn’t object. Nor did Michael. Not that there weren’t some concerns. Of course there were. Michael’s reaction was something to the effect of ‘Dennis Rodman? Really?’ Yes, really, and it made a lot of sense.
Pippen and Jordan's reticence would no doubt have come from having played against Rodman first hand when he was in Detroit playing for the Bad Boys, and the latter's tendency to play dirty like the rest of his teammates at the time. His battles with the Utah Jazz's Karl Malone even went so far as to transcending the basketball world and into professional wrestling with WCW.
3 Bruce Bowen
Bruce Bowen
For all of his defensive credentials - and there were certainly many of them - Bruce Bowen's maliciousness and reckless intent means that he goes down as one of the dirtiest players of the modern game. Bowen would seemingly slip his own foot in the landing area of an opponent whenever they went up for a jump shot, and there have been many examples of where that resulted in catastrophe.
Both Vince Carter and Steve Francis were recipients of Bowen's dirtiness, although he was quick to insist that his style of play was a result of him being aggressive, rather than with any real intent to hurt anyone.
My biggest issue ... is I'm not a dirty player. I was an aggressive player. The rule is you have to give them space to come down. So there were times when yes, I was in that space and I was called for a foul for it. But there was no thoughts of 'hey let me slide my foot under his foot', which is what people love to say. That wasn't the case.
2 Draymond Green
Technicals, fines, suspensions, you name it, and Draymond Green has probably received them all. The lynchpin of the Golden State Warriors' defence over the years and one of the franchise's greatest ever players, Green's temperament has often been in question, and for all his defensive capabilities and IQ, he sure can let himself down with some moments of headloss.
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For a player with his trophy cabinet - he's won numerous NBA titles and been a perennial Defensive Player of the Year contender - Green has been involved in plenty of scuffles, not least when he had Rudy Gobert in a headlock. The fact Green even has a dedicated 'mixtape' of some of his dirtiest plays during his NBA career says it all really.
1 Bill Laimbeer
Bill Laimbeer
The baddest man of the infamous Detroit Pistons team from the 1980s, Bill Laimbeer was the ultimate enforcer of the 'Bad Boys'. In an era where physicality dominated, Laimbeer was the epitome of that, and he took offence to anyone who dared to come into the paint. Whether it was vicious elbows or dropping a mean shoulder barge, Laimbeer made no exceptions, and he relished dishing out the pain and torment to many of Detroit's rivals during that time, including Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Laimbeer was the instigator of many fights, including one with Brad Daugherty which saw him throw the first punch. Such was the nature of his style of play, that even a video game titled Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball was brought out. It's no wonder Laimbeer and the Pistons even feature on our list of the dirtiest sports teams in history.