All Time NBA Tough Guy List

[collidingNeurons]

Alonzo Mourning deserves to be mentioned, he could kill with a scowl. But my favorite all time was Maurice Lucas for trying to box Darryl Dawkins. Artest was dangerously insane but he wanted nothing to do with Ben Wallace. Barkley never backed down from any confrontation and him and Oakley practically fought every time they faced each other. Marvin Bad News Barnes was a thug from the ABA/NBA, Bill Cartwright was pretty intense too but Wilt was probably the one man in the NBA no one was stepping up to if he was ready to fight.

[CIN-C-STAR]

Manu Ginobili lost a testicle trying to take a charge and then hurried back so he'd be in rhythm for the playoffs.
I know "Euros" have a reputation as "soft," but if he's not in consideration for your 6th man on the All-Tough team you're doing it wrong. He also played through some kind of fracture in the 2014 Finals, and played through multiple injuries for the Argentinean National team when he could have been resting.
He was hurt a lot and yes he flopped too like all the stars do now, but he played through a hell of a lot too.

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2016/2/4/10918660/manu-ginobili-injury-spurs-testicles-no

https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/1138987

"I gave my right one," Ginobili told Don Harris of News 4 San Antonio. "I gave it all, I gave it all. I gave my right one for the Spurs, I can say it, I can really say it. It’s true."

Fortunately for Spurs fans, Ginobili was able to quickly recover from the injury, returning to the lineup after just 12 games.

"Usually when that happens, it hurts for a little bit. And then after three minutes, you're back at it," Ginobili told ESPN's Michael C. Wright in March. "It was three minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half, and I was still in the same level of pain. So when we got to the clinic, once we did an MRI, (the doctors said), 'We need the surgery, and it's got to be right now.' When they told me it was going to take a month or a month and a half, unbelievable. It was a very unfortunate situation. It was a perfect storm for this type of thing."

Only missed 12 games!

[Fencer reregistered]

Alonzo Mourning deserves to be mentioned, he could kill with a scowl. But my favorite all time was Maurice Lucas for trying to box Darryl Dawkins. Artest was dangerously insane but he wanted nothing to do with Ben Wallace. Barkley never backed down from any confrontation and him and Oakley practically fought every time they faced each other. Marvin Bad News Barnes was a thug from the ABA/NBA, Bill Cartwright was pretty intense too but Wilt was probably the one man in the NBA no one was stepping up to if he was ready to fight.

Sam Jones sort of agreed and sort of didn't.

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/when-sam-jones-went-after-wilt-chamberlain-with-a-stool

[God Squad]

"We didn't play dirty..."

[collidingNeurons]

Manu Ginobili lost a testicle trying to take a charge and then hurried back so he'd be in rhythm for the playoffs.
I know "Euros" have a reputation as "soft," but if he's not in consideration for your 6th man on the All-Tough team you're doing it wrong. He also played through some kind of fracture in the 2014 Finals, and played through multiple injuries for the Argentinean National team when he could have been resting.
He was hurt a lot and yes he flopped too like all the stars do now, but he played through a hell of a lot too.

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2016/2/4/10918660/manu-ginobili-injury-spurs-testicles-no

https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/1138987

"I gave my right one," Ginobili told Don Harris of News 4 San Antonio. "I gave it all, I gave it all. I gave my right one for the Spurs, I can say it, I can really say it. It’s true."

Fortunately for Spurs fans, Ginobili was able to quickly recover from the injury, returning to the lineup after just 12 games.

"Usually when that happens, it hurts for a little bit. And then after three minutes, you're back at it," Ginobili told ESPN's Michael C. Wright in March. "It was three minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half, and I was still in the same level of pain. So when we got to the clinic, once we did an MRI, (the doctors said), 'We need the surgery, and it's got to be right now.' When they told me it was going to take a month or a month and a half, unbelievable. It was a very unfortunate situation. It was a perfect storm for this type of thing."

Only missed 12 games!

as a Suns fan, I despised Ginobili when he played partly due to the flopping when it wasn't so common then but there was no denying his mental toughness and competitiveness

[Capn'O]

How do we get to page 4 of a thread like this and no one's mentioned AC Green? Played about Novmber of 1986 to April 2001 consecutively without missing a game. I saw the game where that jackass JR Reid deliberately hit him with an elbow to the jaw. Green's response was to nonchalantly stuff his two missing teeth into his pocket and keep playing.

He was constantly ready to explode. If you rubbed him just right, he’d probably pop off in anybody’s face.

you're nuts.

I remember the JR Reid hit. The Knicks of that era were overtly physical but this was probably the dirtiest play I saw from that group.

[Uncle Mxy]

Jeff Ruland belongs on this list.
He was a bus masquerading as an NBA player.

[Pantsman]

"We didn't play dirty..."

There’s nothing tough about taking cheap shots.

[MotownMadness]

"We didn't play dirty..."

There’s nothing tough about taking cheap shots.

He definitely wasn't scared of anyone either though

[drchaos]

If we are talking about Charles Oakley I think his teammates Patrick Ewing and Anthony Mason would come to mind.

[TheBobster]

Two guys stand out - Willis Reed, who once took on the whole Lakers team in a fight, and nobody wanted any part of him, and Al Attles, who at 6' was Wilt Chamberlain's bodyguard. Attles was known as 'The Destroyer' for a reason.

Also Maurice Lucas got his reputation by taking on Artis Gilmore, but he also had a very high profile fight with Darryl Dawkins in the 1977 Finals. Nobody was too big for Lucas to tangle with.

And let's not forget Calvin Murphy - a Gold Gloves boxer who at 5'9" - who was undefeated in his NBA fights (I still can picture him pummeling Sidney Wicks while holding him by his afro).

[Larry_Russell]

Lambeir

[Ballerhogger]

no love for bill lambier

[Wallace_Wallace]

One shove to Artest, he went "Gotta lay down on the table and pretend I am in a therapy session"

[Kobe187]

1st Team:

PG- Gary Payton
SG- Michael Jordan
SF- Ron Artest
PF- Charles Oakley
C- Bill Laimbeer


2nd Team:

PG: Isiah (Zeke) Thomas
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Xavier McDaniel
PF: Dennis Rodman
C: Ben Wallace

[Jables]

Jordan or Kobe would get wrecked in a fight, but I'd rather have a guy that will take their hits without a flinch and win the game, that's tougher than dudes squaring up to each other. Same with Larry, Dirk.

[FreeThrowLine]

Manu Ginobili lost a testicle trying to take a charge and then hurried back so he'd be in rhythm for the playoffs.
I know "Euros" have a reputation as "soft," but if he's not in consideration for your 6th man on the All-Tough team you're doing it wrong.

Bats would definitely have him as a starter

Watch on YouTube

[R-DAWG]

Kevin KDNP Durant

[shakes0]

Trae Young is pound for pound the toughest player in the NBA today. One of the smallest players in the league yet he never shies away from contact even if the guy in the air is 3x his size.

Also plays hurt more than any player in the league. Heck, might be the only player in the league who consistently plays when he is hurt. Twisted his ankle on a dirty fouol by Smart Tuesday, was clearly hobbled, yet still played last night and lit up the Bulls.
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