Ranking the dirtiest players in NBA history

The biggest myth about basketball is that it's a 'non-contact' sport. With ten of the biggest athletes in the world battling each other on a small hardwood floor, there are always going to be bangs, cuts, and bruises, some initiated on purpose and some by accident. It's all in the competitive spirit of the game.

Competitiveness comes in many different forms. For some, it's the dedication to their chosen sport and hours of work to become the best version of themselves. For others, it's a refusal to let the opposition win and a readiness to do anything to stop just that. Here are the dirtiest players in NBA history.

The giant Kiwi has been on the end of a few dirty hits in time, most noticeably from Draymond Green (foreshadowing...) but he has also dished out a few of his own. Per the Los Angeles Times, one coach said of Adams, "His actions are not acceptable. He throws elbows at extra hitting dudes, hitting them with the chicken wing [elbow] and attempting to get a rise out of them."

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The Detroit Pistons team of the late 80s - early 90s was one of the most physical in NBA history, and Rick Mahorn was a big part of why. As ClutchPoints writes, "Mahorn was an enforcer who wouldn't let you get clean shots up at the rim. He would take you out and inflict pain while doing it." A player you would love to have, but hate to play against.

There were few examples of outright violence from Kobe during his career, but his name has become synonymous with doing anything to win. And when we say anything, we mean anything. If he thought he could gain and edge, he was more than happy to do it, and it's hard to argue with the results.

A little like Kobe, Chris Paul has mostly been able to get away with his under-the-radar dirty plays. However, he was at fault for a series of nut-shots, with Chris Kaman, Kevin Durant, and Rudy Gobert all falling victim to Paul at some point.

Even within the NBA, there was a decent chance Karl Malone was bigger, stronger, and more willing to get physical than you. The 6'9" power forward was one of the best players of his era, in large part due to his willingness to anything to win.

Dennis Rodman won five NBA championships, and there are very few who would put him among the elite players in history. What he did do, though, was battle for everything and was willing to leave a little extra on an opponent just to let them know he was there and was going to be all game long.

One of a long line of hated Duke players, Grayson Allen developed a reputation for dirty play long before he reached the pros. When he did get to the NBA, his willingness to push the limit continued, most famously hitting Gary Trent Jr. in the groin during a jump shot and for pulling Alex Caruso out of the air by his arms in what could have been a super dangerous play.

Rasheed Wallace holds the record for most ejections in NBA history, and is third all-time in technical fouls, per ClutchPoint. There are some players on this list who at least attempted some subtlety when they were committing dirty acts, Wallace didn't even bother to do that!

Voted the NBA's Dirtiest Player in 2015, 'Delly' was a key role player in the Cavaliers' 2015 NBA Finals team that narrowly lost to the Warriors. His only aim was to try and stop Steph Curry, and he was willing to do anything to accomplish his aims. A year later, in the rematch, the Aussie guard got his way, helping the Cavs come back from 3-1 down.

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Few players in NBA history struck fear in their opponents more than Charles Oakley did during his career. He operated as a full time enforcer who was willing to punish anyone on the opposing team who dared to foul any of his teammates.

As Sports Brief writes, "Bowen was one of the dirtiest NBA players defensively, slipping his foot under opponents' feet when they went up for a jump shot." Generally considered one of the best perimeter defenders in the history of the league, Bowen's willingness to cause physical pain to his opponents certainly helped his reputation as a lock down defender.

Laimbeer was a big, lumbering center who spent most of his career with the notoriously physical Pistons of the 80s. If you went up for a shot, and Laimbeer was in the vicinity, expect to receive some sort of physical retribution. He took offense to opponents scoring on him, and was more than willing to get in fights if he felt he or his teammates were wronged.

Zaza Pachulia played a key role in establishing the Golden State Warriors as the best team of the 2010s, and it wasn't necessarily due to his basketball skills. He injured Kawhi Leonard multiple times and went after Russell Westbrook at least once, too.

If Zaza Pachulia didn't get you, Draymond Green would. That was what it looked like when you played the Warriors when they had both players on the floor. Green was a repeat offender through his career, with groin-shots and stepping on downed opponents key parts of his repertoire.

Most famous for his role in the 'Malice at the Palace' Artest had developed a reputation for dirty, physical play long before that. His career was littered with incidents, but perhaps the most egregious was his elbow on James Harden that seemed to come out of nowhere.

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