The he coached his players to do so. When you combine his athleticism, intensity and dirtiness, he's the perfect storm. One of the most notorious trash talkers during his heydays, Garnett made his opponents feel the difficulty of playing against him by setting screens that would cause many players to curl up and fall down in pain. But along with his hard play comes a lot of pushes after the whistle, elbows, and chippiness. Paul Pierce has a flair for the drama. Again, I point to the Jerry Sloan School of Dirty Play. No one ever argued that Michael Jordan didn't try. Even the third-best shooting guard to ever play the game is not free from this slander. Like Draymond Green, the Big Ticket was known to target an opposing players balls, too. Popularly known as the mailman Karl Malone is undeniably one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Missed several games, Dennis Rodman, retaliated and ejected with second technical foul, Michael Jordan, bloodied nose (preseason game), Robert Horry, hit in the head, fell to the floor, Chris Webber; Mutombo later ejected for tauntingChris Gatling. Fighting will never help your team like it can in hockey, it will only hurt them. Maybe all that ink has gone to his brain. He was 180 pounds but he played like he was 240 pounds. Dikembe Mutombo might be one of the nicest, most gregarious players in the league's history when the game wasn't going on, but the man was utterly reckless with his elbows. He may cross the line though when he shoves people in the back when boxing out or talking trash in players faces. If Paul Pierce ever had to guard Paul Pierce in the Fringe version of the playoffs, the guys who mop the floor would get so frustrated they'd throw down their mops and storm away. This includes numerous acts of aggressiveness, such as unnecessary fouls, shots to the groin, and other bush league antics. The 6'5" Ainge even got into a scuffle with Atlanta's Tree Rollins, who is 7'1", in the 1983 postseason. Matt Barnes has a short temper and it's easy to get him riled up. The DIRTIEST Players In The NBA Today - YouTube 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. As good as Kevin Garnett was, he was also one of the NBA players who did some nasty stuff on the court.