RealGM

Who is the NBA player, past or present, with the most toxic personality that you would least want to be on your favorite team for that reason no matter how great at basketball he is/was?

Arenas thread made me think of Javaris Crittenton for this.

Without being in the actual locker room it's hard to say. I always found it easy to root against Michael Jordan due to his personality

Currently it's Durant. But that's low hanging fruit.

Derek Fisher and Nate Robinson are up there but Mark Jackson would probably be my #1. He has a history of purposely dividing locker rooms and organizations as a player and a coach. Not to mention his awful phony personality and off-court nonsense.

Kyrie

Kyrie because hes so unpredictable

Past: Sprewell
Current: CP3

Kyrie Irving.







...Not to mention missing long swaths of time on the Cavs, going days at a time not speaking to teammates even when the Cavs were in the midst of playoff runs, threatening the Cavs with getting elective surgery to force a trade (right after their making the finals), telling the Boston media on Oct. 20, 2018 (i.e., right after joining them) that he'd actually wanted to play on the Knicks, throwing his young Celtics teammates under the bus multiple times during his short time together with them (ostensibly for passing to the wrong people--i.e., not him--or not trying hard enough), missing long swaths of the regular season/playoffs (when "his" Celtics played better without him), telling the Boston fans/media that he's "coming back" but didn't, claiming to be "coach" of the Nets, continuing to miss large swaths of time while on the Nets (and not just over the vaccine mandate but for vague "personal reasons"), claiming to be the **** GM of the Nets, etc., etc. (I won't even go into the flat earth stuff and other quotes.)

taikibansei wrote:Kyrie Irving.

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...Not to mention missing long swaths of time on the Cavs, going days at a time not speaking to teammates even when the Cavs were in the midst of playoff runs, threatening the Cavs with getting elective surgery to force a trade (right after their making the finals), telling the Boston media on Oct. 20, 2018 (i.e., right after joining them) that he'd actually wanted to play on the Knicks, throwing his young Celtics teammates under the bus multiple times during his short time together with them (ostensibly for passing to the wrong people--i.e., not him--or not trying hard enough), missing long swaths of the regular season/playoffs (when "his" Celtics played better without him), telling the Boston fans/media that he's "coming back" but didn't, claiming to be "coach" of the Nets, continuing to miss time large swaths of time while on the Nets (and not just over the vaccine mandate but for vague "personal reasons"), claiming to be the **** GM of the Nets, etc., etc. (I won't even go into the flat earth stuff and other quotes.)

I honestly don't think Kyrie is toxic, he is just weird. So it comes down to can you coexist with a weirdo on the team. Some can some can't.

Toxic to me is a guy like Jordan calling teammates Ho's etc in practice. After the first few times I would've stood up for those guys, stepped in and fist fought Mike everyday in practice until I got traded cause let's face it I'd probably be 12-15 guy on the roster so no need to keep me

LA Lakers version of Brodie is another guy cause I can't stand adults who don't take accountability and he doesn't do that imo.

Oh and CP3, he just seem like a B.A.N.

I'm sure it's some new school guys and old school guys I missed.

JimmyPlopper wrote:Without being in the actual locker room it's hard to say. I always found it easy to root against Michael Jordan due to his personality

What?? So a guy who helps his teammates be great and sticks with the organization that drafted him that never won and turns them into a dynasty is toxic?

WillyJakkz wrote:I honestly don't think Kyrie is toxic, he is just weird. So it comes down to can you coexist with a weirdo on the team. Some can some can't.

We're going to have to agree to disagree. Kyrie has now wreaked absolute havoc on three straight teams. If he just did his **** job, the Nets would be in title contention this year. He can't, so they won't.

JordansBulls wrote:

JimmyPlopper wrote:Without being in the actual locker room it's hard to say. I always found it easy to root against Michael Jordan due to his personality

What?? So a guy who helps his teammates be great and sticks with the organization that drafted him that never won and turns them into a dynasty is toxic?

Your response to my post was a strawman. Going back to my actual post, yes, I thought Jordan had an easy personality to root against. To this day I enjoy watching him fail as an NBA owner.

taikibansei wrote:

WillyJakkz wrote:I honestly don't think Kyrie is toxic, he is just weird. So it comes down to can you coexist with a weirdo on the team. Some can some can't.

We're going to have to agree to disagree. Kyrie has now wreaked absolute havoc on three straight teams. If he just did his **** job, the Nets would be in title contention this year. He can't, so they won't.

The Nets situation was never his choice though. The Cavs weren't really either since he wanted his own thing. Kyrie may be a massive troll but he's not toxic IMO

JordansBulls wrote:

JimmyPlopper wrote:Without being in the actual locker room it's hard to say. I always found it easy to root against Michael Jordan due to his personality

What?? So a guy who helps his teammates be great and sticks with the organization that drafted him that never won and turns them into a dynasty is toxic?

Yeah, maybe we need to define what we all mean by "toxic"?

Personally, I don't think somebody's toxic just because he's quirky and/or prickly--teammates/colleagues don't have to all like each other to win. As long as the player shows up when healthy, tries his best to support his teammates against opposing teams, gives his best effort each time on the court, and doesn't act so insane as to be an absolute distraction, then I'll forgive that player being a little weird and/or a jerk.

Toxic is when that player's actions/personality are consistently so bizarre/distracting/intimidating that they completely disrupt player morale/cohesiveness, making focus impossible, and the team can't perform well (or as well as it should) because of it.

Rodman was weird (and a bit of a jerk), but he came to play (at least on the Pistons and Bulls) and gave his heart out each game. Jordan also was (is?) a jerk--wouldn't want to be his friend (or even be an acquaintance), but because he wanted to win above all things, he would reign in his obnoxiousness when necessary for the common goal (winning championships).

Kyrie is toxic.

There's a huge difference between a toxic lockeroom bully and someone who simply works hard and expects the same effort from teammates like Kobe/Jordan.

My vote is Vernon Maxwell, who's bad attitude got him kicked out of a championship team.

Kyrie is the right answer here imo. There isn't a single person on this forum who'd say they'd have no problems playing with Kyrie with a straight face. Dude is a straight up virus to team chemistry.

Kobe

JimmyPlopper wrote:Without being in the actual locker room it's hard to say. I always found it easy to root against Michael Jordan due to his personality

I didn't know you Michael Jordan personally. Can you elaborate on this? I'm actually curious what makes it easy to root against Michael Jordan because I think of the opposite.

Brandon_Roy7 wrote:

JimmyPlopper wrote:Without being in the actual locker room it's hard to say. I always found it easy to root against Michael Jordan due to his personality

I didn't know you Michael Jordan personally. Can you elaborate on this? I'm actually curious what makes it easy to root against Michael Jordan because I think of the opposite.

In relation to the boldfaced - are you under the impression that anyone knows any of the players they are commenting on personally? That's why I said "without being in the actual locker room it's hard to say".

To me, he seemed like a bully that even his own teammates didn't like. Always came across as an insecure, low-grade bully type.

Tim Kempton wrote:Currently it's Durant. But that's low hanging fruit.

Derek Fisher and Nate Robinson are up there but Mark Jackson would probably be my #1. He has a history of purposely dividing locker rooms and organizations as a player and a coach. Not to mention his awful phony personality and off-court nonsense.

Since the 90’s this is the answer. Hard to be more toxic than a theocratic fascist.