The 12 Most Polarizing Figures in NBA History

Basketball, perhaps more than any other sport, introduces you to the personalities of the athletes, and for that reason, the players are more polarizing than in other sports. 

Whether the argument is about the person or their place in history, there are a number of players who are absolutely polarizing to the American public. 

Kobe Bryant and other contemporary players have received more than their share of debate, but where do they rank among the all-time players? Following are the 12 most polarizing players in NBA history.

12. Oscar Robertson

Oscar Robertson was the first truly great big guard. He was also the first guard to put up truly massive numbers year after year without winning championships.

He eventually did win a championship, but it was at the tail end of his career, and the true star of the team was Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). That alone generates enough controversy around the man.

Adding to it, though, is that Robertson filed an antitrust suit against the NBA that eventually caused the draft rules and rules of free agency to change. Black men suing white "owners" at that time didn't sit well with a segment of white America, still adjusting to integration at the time.

11. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

If you've ever seen the movie Airplane!, then you can sum up the controversy around Kareem. He was without a doubt one of the two or three greatest players in the history of the game, but that didn't stop the critics from coming out.

There were always those who criticized his effort on the defensive end, in spite of the fact that he was named to the All-Defense team 11 times. It's not as intense today, but there was a time when people could work themselves into quite a lather talking about Kareem.

Probably it was because he wasn't on their team.

One reader points out that Abdul-Jabbar was also disliked by many because of his strong commitment and actions supporting his beliefs. Boycotting the Olympics to protest racial injustice wasn't exactly well received by America at large when he did it.

10. John Stockton and Karl Malone

John Stockton and Karl Malone are combined because I couldn't decide which one to put here, but essentially, it's one person for the intents of this slideshow.

Stockton to Malone was the greatest combination in the history of the NBA, or at least the two that combined for the most points. They were an amazing pair.

There were their detractors though. Often accused of being dirty, they are also besmirched for having never won a championship.

Still, Stockton is the all-time leader in both assists and steals, and Malone is the second all-time leading scorer and seventh all-time rebounder. If you suggest that either is arguably top-10 all-time, though, their lack of a ring will get you a fair share of scorn.

9. Bill Russell

Bill Russell is polarizing for two reasons. First, he was the first black NBA player to be a true superstar. He came after Jackie Robinson, but let's not kid ourselves—it's not like the moment Jackie donned that Dodger jersey everyone was accepting.

Russell was scorned and wasn't even allowed at times to stay in the same hotel as his teammates because of the color of his skin. As a result, Russell stood up for a lot of the black issues in his time, and that made him the subject of even more hatred and abuse.

Now he's polarizing for a different reason. He's the one player who most would agree is a top-10 player of all time but is not a great scorer. He is, however, arguably the greatest help defender in history and was the primary force behind the Celtics' 11 rings in 14 years.

8. Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O'Neal is the fifth all-time leading scorer, the sixth all-time leading rebounder and is third all-time in PER. He also won four NBA titles and was the Finals MVP for three of them.

At his peak he was called by some the most dominant big man since Wilt Chamberlain. 

Yet he is often besmirched by the fans of the team he won three of those titles with because of his role in the Kobe Bryant feud.

He also at times made a clown of himself and was distracted recording bad rap albums or making bad movies.

Finally, his last two seasons came across as a desperate reach to try to snag one more ring to keep up with Bryant.

All of those things chipped away at his image, and that lasting image is how a lot of people remember him. His place in history is a matter of considerable controversy.

7. Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson was a lightning rod for a brief period of time, and that's why he is on here. He was, at least for a while, the symbol of HIV awareness, and also that of ignorance.

He was the subject of rampant rumors as at the time it was still thought to be a "gay" disease. Many suggested he was secretly homosexual.

Then there were the controversies with him playing on the court, and as there was so much ignorance around the disease, people were concerned that the disease could be contracted through his blood if he had an open wound on the court.

At that time they created the rule, which still exists today, that a player has to stop the bleeding to remain on the court.

6. Allen Iverson

While Allen Iverson was never actually in a gang, he was "gangsta" in the "street cred" sense of the word. He never tried to be anything other than who he was, and that bothered some people and was celebrated by others.

His attitudes, his dress and his company never departed from his upbringing. He hung out with rappers and dressed like he always had.

Of course, sometimes not changing meant not growing or maturing as a normal, functioning member of society. When it came to receiving coaching and advice, it became a sore point to many.

When he won the MVP award, it drew a lot of anger from statistical purists who couldn't see the award going to a "ball hog." Others saw him almost singlehandedly carrying the Eastern Conference's best team.

For a time Iverson was arguably the most popular and most hated player in the NBA.

5. Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley was never a person afraid to speak to his mind, even if it offended people, and he did offend plenty of people. His most famous quote became the subject of controversy in a political campaign:

"

I think the media demands that athletes be role models because there's some jealousy involved. It's as if they say, this is a young black kid playing a game for a living and making all this money, so we're going to make it tough on him. And what they're really doing is telling kids to look up to someone they can't become, because not many people can be like we are. Kids can't be like Michael Jordan.

"

It wasn't just that by itself, though. Some took it as Barkley, who frequently got in fights off the court and had other less than civil reasons for being in the news, making excuses for his unacceptable behavior.

His penchant for speaking his mind had some people agreeing with him and some not, but most took a stance one way or the other on all things Barkley.

Ironically, Barkley, now a member of the media, now pontificates routinely, an irony not lost on many.

4. Dennis Rodman

Saying Dennis Rodman was strange is like saying the sun rose this morning. It doesn't need to be said.

The question about Rodman wasn't whether he was strange, but how much it mattered. Whether he was dressing in drag, changing his hairstyle, getting married on a whim or any of a number of strange antics, Rodman was a constant source of controversy.

He was also one of the greatest rebounders in the history of the game and an extraordinary interior defender that was an integral part of five NBA championships. Some people love Rodman, some couldn't stand him, but no one ever claimed to understand him.

3. LeBron James

"The Decision" was probably the single most polarizing non-basketball incident involving an NBA player. The level of criticism it grew was beyond intense. It was also the single most watched event outside of an NFL game in the history of ESPN.

Prior to that LeBron James was beginning to see a downturn in his popularity due to his being seen as "quitting" in the playoffs. That event sealed it.

Whether James is a great player, a selfish player or even a good person are are all matters that are debated with regularity. The level of vitriol directed at James is unprecedented.

2. Kobe Bryant

If you read the LeBron slide and said, "What about Kobe Bryant?" then I was just saving this for you. If there is anyone who has gotten the hatred that LeBron James has, it's Kobe Bryant.

The controversy that surrounded him after he was accused of rape followed him around for years, and still does to some degree, but that's not all that makes Bryant so polarizing.

There's where he sits in history. While some of his fans insist he is top-five all-time, or even second only to Michael Jordan, there are those who balk at the notion of even putting him in the top 10.

There is something called Godwin's Law that relates to Internet discussions that states, "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one (100 percent)."

I believe there is an NBA version of that which states, "As any NBA online discussion grows longer, the probability of a debate involving Kobe Bryant's place in history approaches one (100 percent)."

1. Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50 points a game for an entire season. The game was so different then that it hardly even equates with today's game, but that number still has some people fixated. That makes him a matter of controversy today, but in his day he was even more controversial.

Chamberlain consistently put up better numbers than Bill Russell when he faced Russell's Celtics, but Russell's Celtics consistently won the series.

There were a host of issues with him personally that have some people arguing he was a selfish player only concerned with putting up massive numbers and being completely uncoachable. He is the ultimate representative of the "stats vs. rings" argument and as such is a focal point of considerable debate.

On top of all that was his affinity for "white women," which drew criticism from both whites and blacks, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who called him a "traitor."

In the history of the NBA, it is doubtful that any player has been the subject of more arguments than Chamberlain.