dirtiest play, it depends how you look at it. all the ones that have been mentioned already can be a good answer. dirtiest player, there is no doubt. that title belongs to karl malone. no one ever comes close. not even bruce lee. err... i mean bruce bowen.
Not justifying it, but he was aiming at a guy that was making some pretty insane and even racist remarks..........
Rudy - T From Wiki Despite Tomjanovich's noteworthy career as a player, he is perhaps best remembered for an infamous incident in which he was involved at the height of his playing career. In a December 9, 1977 game, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kermit Washington threw a brutal punch during an on-court melee which struck Tomjanovich. The blow shattered the bones of Tomjanovich's jaw and face and inflicted life-threatening head injuries, leaving him sidelined for five months. He eventually made a full recovery.
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There were a lot of dirty plays in the 80s, but I guess that was mostly the norm. As for recent memory, Malone knocking Robinson unconscious after a rebound is up there.
As far as the dirtiest "play", I think I'd have to agree that it was Kermit punching Rudy. It was a cheap shot, and criminal. I'm amazed there weren't criminal charges.
I guarantee anyone here that hasn't seen this one will rank it in their top 3. There has been no bloodier in NBA history. Another one is where Malone
I guarantee that anyone who's seen this one will rank it in their top 3. There has been no bloodier play in NBA history. Zeke's forehead was shooting blood like a fountain. Malone was retaliating because Zeke was roasting Stockton. Another one is where Malone deliberately elbowed David Robinson in the temple and put him in the hospital for several days.
Call me a dick but I rather enjoyed and continue to enjoy seeing the play where Malone sails through the air toward Isiah and halfway through decides to land elbow first on Zeke's face. Two of my most hated players. Probably would have loved it just as much if it had happened the other way around. The Robinson elbow was pretty nasty. I don't think people who were not old enough to see Mailman in the 80s and early 90s remember how nasty this dude was. I remember a game where Malone caught Barkley will an elbow (although it appeared to be inadvertent) and Barkley ran back up the court appearing to be spitting out some of his teeth.
Surprised none brought up Raja's closeline on Kobe, but of course if it's on Kobe it's not a dirty play.
It doesn't even rank in my top 20 because it wasn't a very hard foul. Dirty? I guess so but it isn't like Kobe had any real shot of being injured. Fists, elbows, hard shoves when guy is in the air are all much dirty than what Raja did to the Mamba.
The "bear hug" <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VwlUN6kB1z8&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VwlUN6kB1z8&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> Number 4.
i could not understand any nba fan, much less a rocket fan, not picking the kermit washington sledge hammer to rudy t's face as the dirtiest play ever. HE WAS LEAKING OUR SPINAL FLUID!
Watch it again here If you like <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WhDi0Ce_Z5w&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WhDi0Ce_Z5w&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> Look at Malone compared to everyone else on the court. If not dirty, thats one of the longest picks I've seen. Might have still been picking Drexler after the buzzer sounded That was long enough to even give David Carr enough time to make a play.
yeah...when men where men. There was no flopping then. No player would give the other the satisfaction of knocking them on their butt. Todays rules have taken inforcement of the game from the players and put it in the refs hands. Not a good thing in my opinion.