50 Most Intimidating NBA Players of All Time

One of my favorite types of player in the NBA is the guy that will absolutely punish his opponent when he goes into the lane—the Kendrick Perkins or Emeka Okafor-type player that owns the paint and gets offended when another player comes into it.

That is one of the most intimidating guys on the floor, the one who isn't necessarily unpredictable; instead, the guy driving the lane knows exactly what's going to happen: He's going to drive, and he's going to get a body put on him.

Usually, it is the defensive monsters that are the intimidating players, and it's quite hard to be an intimidating player using only an offensive game, but it is possible.

Some qualities that make a player intimidating include that physical presence that we've already talked about, unpredictability, size, shot-blocking, confidence, meanness, ability to take over a game, utter dominance and, most importantly, insanity.  Oh, and it doesn't hurt to be ugly.

You could be a decent player, but if you're legitimately insane, then it gives you another dimension.

Intimidation plays a big role in basketball, and it's a very overlooked quality in the NBA, so I took a look and found the most intimidating players in league history.

50. Reggie Evans

Intimidating Quality: Insanity, meanness

Reggie Evans isn't a guy that is going to be remembered for his ability to play basketball well, although he can rebound as well as any other big guy in the game.

No, he is going to be remembered because he is one of the biggest D-bags in the game.  His most notable moment came when he saw that he wasn't going to get a rebound over Chris Kaman, so he reached between his legs and tugged on Kaman's boys.

49. Jerry Sloan

Intimidating Quality: Confidence, physicality

Even as a coach I would be intimidated by Jerry Sloan. He always had this look on his face that said, "I know what I am doing, I'm going to beat you and there's nothing you can do about it." His demeanor was very intimidating.

He had the same demeanor when he was a player, but he also played shooting guard like a linebacker, refusing to give up an inch on defense.

48. Latrell Sprewell

Intimidating Quality: Craziness

If there is one thing you can say about Latrell Sprewell, it's that he was crazy, and at his peak, he was the craziest player in the league.

This is the man that once choked his coach because he told him to "put a little mustard" on a pass. Yeah, it's safe to say that you were never sure what this guy was going to do.

47. Manute Bol

Intimidating Quality: Size

Just imagine if you were to see this guy walking around town. Odds are that you would just sit and stare against your better judgment with your mouth agape.

Now, imagine that you have to try to score on this guy. Sure, some of the wider bodies could push him around—I mean, he was as skinny as a baby tree—but he still had arms that would hit the Jumbotron in an arena if he wasn't careful.

46. Kenyon Martin

Intimidating Quality: Defense, meanness

Early in his career, Kenyon Martin relied on his athleticism to be one of the best defenders in the league, and he was intimidating then. He could block almost anyone in the league, and he had hands to steal almost any pass.

Then, when he started to break down from age and the various bumps and bruises that a player eventually experiences, he started to get mean and physical. He routinely knocks players down and roughs them up as much as possible within the rules.

45. LeBron James

Intimidating Quality: Dominance, size

A man this powerful and fast is already intimidating, and I don't think I have to explain to you why he is on this list, but I may have to explain why I have him so low.

It seems that LeBron James is too much into his own head, meaning he is his own worst enemy at this point. He seems unsure of himself in the clutch, shown by his performance in the NBA Finals near the end of games.

It's hard to get intimidated by a guy who is intimidated by himself.

44. Gary Payton

Intimidating Quality: Meanness, defense

For a little guy, Gary Payton was pretty physical, and for a guy as popular as he was, he was surprisingly mean on the court.

There are endless stories of Payton being one of the biggest trash-talkers in the league. Put that on top of his ability to rob any other point guard in the league of the ball and his killer defense, and you have one intimidating little guy.

43. Reggie Miller

Intimidating Quality: Clutch, confidence

Reggie Miller may have never won a title, but he was confident in his own ability and his ability to perform with the game on the line.

Sure, there is some debate over just how clutch he was (he air-balled the potential game-winner in Game 7 of the 1994 playoffs against the Knicks), but he had the reputation of being clutch, which is all you really need to be intimidating.

42. Dwyane Wade

Intimidating Quality: Confidence, dominance

If there is one thing that scared me about the Miami Heat in the finals, it's that they had Dwyane Wade. I was completely convinced that, in a pinch, he would not hesitate to knock LeBron out of the way, look at him and say, "I got this."

When he didn't, I was shocked. If they make it to the finals again and the Heat are showing the same signs of collapsing, I would go as far as to place a bet in Vegas that Miami would come back and win, and Wade would win the finals MVP.

41. Allen Iverson

Intimidating Quality: Confidence, dominance, ability to take over the game

If there was a stat out there for most times making an opponent look like he's 12 years old, Allen Iverson would have the record. There isn't a more devastating crossover in the history of the game, and I'll stick by that comment all day.

The thing that makes AI even more frightening is that he knew how good he was, and he knew how far he could push his talent.

40. Vernon Maxwell

Intimidating Quality: Craziness, physicality

Vernon Maxwell punched a fan before Ron Artest made it cool to punch a fan.

I would say that's enough to say that a single player is crazy enough to make the guy defending him wonder every now and then what he might do to him if he gets into "fan punching" mode again.

39. Bob Lanier

Intimidating Quality: Size, physicality

Look at Bob Lanier as an old man. He's scary-looking even when he's ordering off the "Over 55" menu at Bob Evans.

Lanier was legitimately a nice guy, but if you crossed him or thought that you were going to score over him, he would put a body into you without thinking about it.

38. Tree Rollins

Intimidating Quality: Size, physicality

Just know one thing: The paint was Tree Rollins', and if you tried to take it away from him, he would remind you that he owned the paint.

The Human Sycamore was a shot-blocking machine, and when he blocked a shot, he made it known.

37. Magic Johnson

Intimidating Quality: Dominance, ability to take over a game.

The versatility of Magic Johnson made him one of the most unique players in the history of the game, and that alone was enough to make him intimidating, but there was so much more to his game.

Being one of the 10 best players in NBA history doesn't come without reason. Johnson was able to take over the game at any moment, and he could completely dominate it later in his career.

36. Willis Reed

Intimidating Quality: Size, physicality, defense.

Willis Reed was one of the premier defenders of the 1970s, and he was able to be such a player because of how big he was and how physical his game was.

He was a very personable guy off the court, but when he stepped on the court, he became a man possessed, blocking shots and turning back offensive players like a machine.

35. Dwight Howard

Intimidating Quality: Size, defense.

Dwight Howard has all the tools needed to become one of the most intimidating players of all time, but his game isn't physical enough, and he complains to the referees a bit too much for my liking.

Howard is a huge lane-clogger, and he blocks shots that make the crowd blow up (although he blocks them out of bounds far too often) and is able to change the pace of a game with a single defensive move.

34. Gheorghe Muresan

Intimidating Quality: Size (ugly bonus)

Gheorghe Muresan is one of only two players in league history to be 7'7", and he is one of the ugliest to ever step foot on the court.

He was able to block any shot that was put up within three or four feet of him and was much more physical than Manute Bol.

33. Larry Johnson

Intimidating Quality: Physicality, craziness

Back in the early '90s, Larry Johnson scared white people. A lot of white people.

Johnson was intimidating to the league as well; as a former boxer by the time he got to the league, he had the reputation of being a bit of a bad boy.

Even dressed up like a grandma, LJ was a bit frightening.

32. Kermit Washington

Intimidating Quality: Craziness, physicality

Chances are if it weren't for one instance, nobody would even talk about Kermit Washington anymore, but a single punch made him one of the most intimidating men in the league (at least in the homes of all the NBA fans out there).

He was a legitimately intimidating player in his own right, with good physicality and an enforcer mentality, but when he nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovic with a single punch, he jumped right onto this list.

31. Dave Cowens

Intimidating Quality: Intensity

Most people today would say that Kevin Garnett is the most intense player in the game. Well, take Garnett and multiply that by about 200, and you have Dave Cowens.

Cowens cared a little too much about the game and completely bypassed giving 110 percent. He went ahead and gave 248 percent, and even then, he wanted to go harder.

It's almost scary how much he cared about the game, and that is enough to make him an intimidating man and basketball player.

30. Wes Unseld

Intimidating Quality: Defense, physicality

Wes Unseld is probably one of the most underappreciated players in NBA history. He is one of the best shot-blockers of all time and played the game with a type of physicality that is unmatched today.

Unseld never shied away from contact and always seemed to be in such an intense zone when he was on the court that it was frightening.

29. Joe Dumars

Intimidating Quality: Physicality, intensity

Joe Dumars was one of the last players in the league able to consistently guard Michael Jordan. He did so by putting his body into him every chance he got.

Dumars made players think twice about trying to get past him, and he would even employ some dirty tactics from time to time if necessary.

28. Nate Thurmond

Intimidating Quality: Size, physicality

Nate Thurmond was one of the few players in the league that was able to rein in both Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as much as either of them could conceivably be reined in.

As one of the best shot-blockers and rebounders in league history, Thurmond was able to put a body into anybody and make him remember it.

27. Kobe Bryant

Intimidating Quality: Clutch, confidence, dominance, intensity

One of the two most dominant players since Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant's skills are second to none at shooting guard since he came into the league.

Kobe is better than most in the clutch, and he is never afraid of taking the game-winning shot. It's that mentality, plus his newly developed caveman-like underbite, that shows his intensity and his "in-the-zoneness."

26. Tim Duncan

Intimidating Quality: Dominance, confidence, defense

Tim Duncan doesn't seem like a very intimidating player on the surface, but when you look at how dominant he has been over the past decade, and when you factor in the fact that he is the best power forward of all time, you have one intimidating player.

He may not scare players in the manner that they fear bodily harm when he walks on the court, but his ability to consistently dominate since his rookie season is a frightening thing.

25. David Robinson

Intimidating Quality: Size, confidence, physicality

Coming into the league out of Navy, David Robinson was already a presence without even playing a single game. He has a swagger about him without attempting to have a swagger.

Along with his presence, which has really been unrivaled by anyone but Michael Jordan since he came into the league, Robinson was a big, physical man, which made him one of the most intimidating players in the league at the time.

24. Dikembe Mutombo

Intimidating Quality: Defense, size, confidence

It's one thing to have a shot blocked. It's a completely different thing to have the shot blocked and then have 20,000 fingers wagging at you when it happens.

Dikembe Mutombo was such an intimidating presence that he was able to taunt players after embarrassing them without having to worry about them throwing an elbow his way, because they knew he would just do it again next time they came down the court.

23. Rick Mahorn

Intimidating Quality: Defense, physicality

One of the most intimidating men to ever come out of Connecticut, Rick Mahorn was one of the baddest players on the most physical team in NBA history.

Mahorn was the enforcer on the Pistons, and any time one of his teammates got into a scuffle, Mahorn was always there to back him up.

22. Darryl Dawkins

Intimidating Quality: Craziness, physicality

There are two things about Darryl Dawkins: First, he was a crazy man-child who was hard to put a leash on, and second, he was a big, strong, backboard-breaking man.

Dawkins broke many backboards in his day, and that alone was enough to scare some younger players, but he was also physical and thought that he was from another planet...literally.

21. Mark Eaton

Intimidating Quality: Size, defense (ugly bonus)

Mark Eaton is an unassuming white dude, but he was a huge man and had a big ugly beard that made him look like he came down from a mountain and started playing basketball.

Eaton could block shots and rebound as well as anyone else in the league, and he did so with a scowl on his face all of the time.

20. Maurice Lucas

Intimidating Quality: Meanness, size, physicality

Maurice Lucas didn't need to throw punches; he did all of his fighting with his glare, although he would throw fists around from time to time.

Lucas could stare at you and turn you to pudding, and then he would throw a body into you. There are really no players in the league like Lucas anymore.

19. Kevin McHale

Intimidating Quality: Unpredictability, defense

It's hard to guard a guy when you don't know what he's going to do, and when you don't know how you're going to guard a guy, it's pretty intimidating.

Sure, a defender can guess which move Kevin McHale is going to use, but it's about as useful as guessing how many kids Shawn Kemp has.

18. Kevin Garnett

Intimidating Quality: Intensity, defense, meanness

Of this generation of basketball players, Kevin Garnett has the most old-school mentality out of any of them.

He plays every possession like it's his last, he plays defense like there is nothing more important in the world and he has developed a mean streak like no other.

17. Isiah Thomas

Intimidating Quality: Intensity, confidence, physicality

The unabashed leader of the Bad Boy Pistons, Isiah Thomas had a streak of confidence and intensity unlike any other guard in the league.

Thomas knew that there were better teams out there, so he made up for it by giving his team a mean streak that gave the Pistons an edge that put a scare into the rest of the league.

16. Charles Oakley

Intimidating Quality: Intensity, physicality, meanness

In hockey, nearly every team has that one guy on its roster that it puts in so he can go in and rile up opponents or get someone back for a dirty play. That would be Charles Oakley if he ever laced up skates.

I'm pretty convinced that the only reason Oakley stayed in the league for as long as he did was because he stormed into some random GM's office and stared him down until he was staring back at a multimillion-dollar contract.

15. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Intimidating Quality: Dominance, confidence

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar definitely doesn't look like a dominating force. He looks like a giant goon, but he sure could put the ball in the basket.

When you come up a guy that has a move that is unstoppable, and it was unstoppable two decades ago, it's pretty intimidating. That's what it was like with Kareem's sky hook.

14. Hakeem Olajuwon

Intimidating Quality: Unpredictability, defense, dominance

When Michael Jordan left the league for baseball, Hakeem Olajuwon was the best player in the league, and it showed when his teams won back-to-back titles.

Olajuwon was a presence on each end of the floor, and what made him intimidating was that you knew what he was going to do on defense and had no clue on offense. He was going to stop you from scoring in any way possible, and then he was going to get the ball and do God knows what with it on the other end.

13. Karl Malone

Intimidating Quality: Defense, elbows

It seems like every time Karl Malone got a rebound, he would throw his elbows around. I'm not saying that's a bad thing; I'm just saying that I wouldn't want to take one of those to the jaw, and I don't think anyone out there would.

He was a great player in his own right, but those nasty 'bows just put him over the top.

12. Patrick Ewing

Intimidating Quality: Intensity, defense, physicality

Patrick Ewing was one of the best big men in the game during the '90s, and although he never won a ring, he was still a very special player.

Ewing was a dominant force down low on either end of the floor, and he always had a frowny face on, which made him just that much more frightening.

11. Ron Artest

Intimidating Quality: Complete insanity

I don't know what Ron Artest is doing right now, and you don't know what Ron Artest is doing right now, but I would assure you that whatever he is doing, he is doing it like a crazy man.

He could just be eating a bowl of cereal, but he probably has a crazy look in his eyes.

This may not be true, but the way he carries himself on the court makes me think this is at least a possibility.

10. Charles Barkley

Intimidating Quality: Size, intensity

This is one of the few players in league history that is more intimidating because he is shorter. Barkley seemed to take it as a challenge that he was shorter than anyone else, and he surpassed every expectation.

Barkley was a dirty, mean guy on and off the court, and while he may not have always had his head completely in basketball, when he was on the court, his head was always completely into doling out punishment.

9. Larry Bird

Intimidating Quality: Dominance, ability to take over a game, unpredictability

Larry Bird was a special player. He wasn't athletic, and he was white, but he was the best in the league for a period of time. He could shoot from a distance, or he could go down low and bang around like a big man, all while playing immaculate defense.

If you were to tell a defender that he would die if he didn't keep Bird from scoring 25, he would be shaking in his boots.

8. Moses Malone

Intimidating Quality: Size, defense

He wasn't the biggest body in the league, but he sure played like it. Moses Malone is easily the best offensive rebounder in the history of the league, and it was impossible to stop him on the glass.

Malone was a force down low, and he could get to the exact spot on the floor that the ball would end up every time, almost like he had played the game once and went back in a time machine to play it again.

7. Ben Wallace

Intimidating Quality: Defense, intensity, size, strength, Afro, meanness

Another guy who was made more intimidating by his size, Ben Wallace is easily the best defender since Dennis Rodman was shaking down players for the ball in the mid '90s.

He was a big, strong, mean dude who was made meaner by that intimidating Afro sitting on top of his head waiting for you to laugh at it.

6. Bill Laimbeer

Intimidating Quality: Physicality, defense, meanness

Bill Laimbeer was on the Pistons to be big, mean, play dirty and piss opponents off. 

The best part about Laimbeer was that he would get under his defender's skin so that he would be the one to throw the first punch, at which point Rick Mahorn would mosey over and the fight would end.

5. Bill Russell

Intimidating Quality: Dominance, defense

Bill Russell's style of intimidation is unlike most of the other styles of intimidation throughout history. He could bide his time and let his opponent take a few inches, but when the game was on the line, his opponent would know that Russell would take back those inches and then some.

Don't believe me? Why don't you go ask Wilt Chamberlain—or you could just look at Russell's 11 rings and be done with it.

4. Dennis Rodman

Intimidating Quality: Defense, physicality, insanity

The players that we call crazy today seem like cute little bunny rabbits compared to the insanity that is Dennis Rodman.

We are talking about the guy that kicked a cameraman, colored his hair every color imaginable, married himself and just had that insane look in his eye. It was intimidating.

I mean, wouldn't you be intimidated by a guy if you thought he could give you gonorrhea if you defended him too closely?

3. Shaquille O'Neal

Intimidating Quality: Size, dominance, defense, strength

Shaq could have been much better, which is scary considering how good he really was. He really only showed off how good he could have been from 1999-2001, where he absolutely obliterated the league.

The dude shook off other centers like they were flies, and if he didn't have an obvious weakness (free-throw shooting) that could easily be exploited, he would be No. 1 on this list.

2. Wilt Chamberlain

Intimidating Quality: Dominance, defense

You won't find a player more dominating during his time period than Wilt Chamberlain. He towered over the competition and still holds countless records.

Nobody could score like him or rebound like him, no big man could pass like him and nobody could block shots like him.

If there is one guy in the history of the league that I would have liked to see play live, it would probably be Chamberlain.

1. Michael Jordan

Intimidating Quality: Dominance, intensity, confidence, meanness, GOAT factor

Imagine you're Todd Day in 1995. It's your second year in the league, and you're starting for the Bucks. You're feeling pretty good about yourself, but you're not overconfident; I mean, it is the Bucks.

Then you get on a plane for a road trip—first stop Chicago. You walk out onto the floor for warm-ups, and you start missing shots; you're a bit shaky. Then come the introductions, culminating with, "Frrrom North...Carolina, at guard, six foot six...Michaellllll Joooordaaan!"

Did you get chills? Yeah, me too. Now, I just need you to go do one thing.

Go guard that guy.

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