NBA Power Rankings: The 20 Hardest Foulers in the League
The NBA season tips off tonight, and players with sharp tongues or potty mouths better watch out.
The league will begin cracking down on its players, and it won't take much for a guy to get called for a technical foul or even ejected from the game.
I personally think the new rule is a little ridiculous. Basketball is a physical sport, and guys get emotional.
It's unnecessary to T-up a guy just because he gets a little aggravated or makes over-exaggerated gestures if he thinks a referee makes a bad call.
Nonetheless, no matter what I or anyone else thinks, the NBA referees will have a quick whistle throughout the 2010-11 season.
But just who will the league's new technical foul rule hurt the most?
Here's the top 20 players whose wallet and game could be hit the hardest.
20. Chauncey Billups
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Believe it or not, Chauncey Billups is actually not well-liked by NBA referees.
Like Kobe Bryant, he's another one of those players who gets called for fouls that referees would let slide for other players.
Even if he's technically just a good defensive player, NBA refs don't care. They hate him, at least according to Tim Donaghy.
19. Tim Duncan
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Tim Duncan isn't a nasty basketball player, but he is one of the most annoying players on the planet.
Sorry, San Antonio. But the guy's over seven feet tall, yet he constantly feels the need to plead his case after every foul that's called against him.
Plus, he's not all that well-liked by referees. Just ask Joey Crawford.
18. Glen Davis
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Glen Davis's nickname is "Big Baby" for a reason. The guy is just what the names says, a big baby.
He's not going to be praised as a wonderful teammate, and he's never going to be the quickest guy on the court.
Davis has got to get it done on the court somehow, and it's usually by doing whatever it takes to stop his opponent.
17. Dirk Nowitzki
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Dirk Nowitzki is obviously a talented player, but the dude whines about as much as two-year-old who really wants his juice box.
It almost pains me to watch the Mavericks play because I can't stand watching him act like the world's about to end every time he gets called for a foul.
Relax, Dirk. Sometimes you actually committed the foul.
16. Joakim Noah
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Joakim Noah is a beast on the boards, but sometimes he lets it get the best of him.
Noah looks like a man possessed in the paint at times, with his wild hair flailing around all over the place while he throws his body around with no regard for anyone or anything around him.
I find it fun to watch, but the new NBA rules likely won't enjoy it too much.
15. Zach Randolph
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Zach Randolph is a gifted scorer, but calling him defensively challenged would be putting it nicely.
Randolph has one season with more than 17 blocks. One!
I think that pretty much sums up why he needs to foul to stop anyone.
14. Carmelo Anthony
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Maybe it's because he's always wishing that he's playing for another team, but Carmelo Anthony loses his head pretty often.
He was T'd up 13 times last season.
And with his desire to leave Denver growing by the minute, I'd expect that frustration to explode in the form of some hard fouls and eventually, some technicals too.
13. Anderson Varejao
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I see striking similarities between Noah, Anderson Varejao and a player you'll find later on this list.
It's not only their hair that is so similar, but their defensive play that drives their opponents absolutely insane on the court.
Varejao was one of less than 10 players to get votes for a 2009 poll that asked who the most annoying player in the league is.
12. Josh Smith
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Josh Smith likes to block shots. NBA referees like to call fouls on guys who like to block shots.
Smith certainly isn't going to be confused for a good Samaritan on the baseball court, and he'll be giving plenty of dough back to the league all season.
11. Lou Amundson
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Have you seen Lou Amundson play basketball?
He's like a hybrid between an aggravating gnat that is always there and a fifth grader who forgot to take his ADD medicine.
Amundson is a maniac on the court, and he'll pay up because of it.
10. Matt Barnes
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Matt Barnes isn't the only Laker you'll see on this list.
Barnes doesn't exactly have a reputation as the league's cleanest player, and it's shown in the technical foul category.
He was called for 10 technical fouls last season, which came as a result of his knack for getting in mini scuffles on the court rather frequently.
9. Kobe Bryant
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Kobe Bryant isn't a dirty defensive player, but he is a good one.
And when you're good on the defensive end, you're going to get called for stuff that others guys normally wouldn't, especially when you hassle the referees like Kobe does..
Maybe that's why Bryant was second in the league last year with 14 technical fouls.
8. Ron Artest
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Ron Artest seems to have calmed down a bit since joining the Los Angeles Lakers, but it's not like the guy was ordained a saint or took a vow of silence.
If Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum can't stay healthy and the Lakers struggle, I'd expect a few profanity-laced tirades from the NBA star/rap arist known as Ron Artest.
7. Amar'e Stoudemire
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The New York Knicks got a heck of an offensive talent in Amar'e Stoudemire, but let's be honest: Stoudemire can't even spell defense.
It's a good thing he's played for teams that rely strictly on offensive for most of his career because he's not going to win any defensive player of the year awards.
His defensive philosophy relies on fouling players when he has no idea what else to do.
6. Kenyon Martin
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Kenyon Martin has never been for his great sportsmanship or demeanor on the court, and that could prove to take a chunk out of his wallet this season.
Martin loves getting so close to the referees that they can almost lock lips with that horrific tattoo on his neck.
5. Stephen Jackson
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I'm sorry, Mr. Jackson. I am for real.
By that, I mean I'm for real when I say that your tendency to commit hard fouls night in and night out will almost certainly bite you in the a** this season.
4. Dwight Howard
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If I asked who was called for the most technical fouls during the 2009-10, how many people would answer Dwight Howard?
Probably not too many. But the Magic star was tied for the league lead with 15 Ts
I'd guess it has to do with the fact that Howard's a shot-blocking machine, and he probably doesn't react too friendly when he's called for a hard foul.
3. Kevin Garnett
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The NBA's perennial potty mouth Kevin Garnett is probably shown a minimum of five times a game cursing up a storm somewhere in the arena.
Whether he's on the court, on the sidelines or about three inches away from the referee's face, Garnett seems to have little to no control over the words that come out of his mouth.
He better set aside a few hundred thousand dollars for this season.
2. Reggie Evans
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In a Sports Illustrated poll released earlier this year, 173 players were asked who the league's dirtiest player is.
And Reggie Evans won by a fairly wide margin.
In fact, in 2006, Chris Kaman accused Evans of tugging on his testicles.
That's enough for me.
1. Kendrick Perkins
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Kendrick Perkins will at least save some money because he won't be ready for the start of the season.
But it's not going to make that much of a difference in the long rung. Anyone who isn't a Celtics fan--and even some of them, too--will tell you that Perkins is one of the dirtier players in the league.
I like to call him "Captain Confrontation" because even if he clearly fouls someone, he vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
