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Just about everyone loses their cool once in a while. That’s especially true for professional athletes, who are some of the most competitive human beings on the planet. Though the NBA doesn’t feature nearly as much violent contact as the NFL, basketball is a physically demanding game that involves a lot of banging bodies and clashing egos at the professional level. That’s a formula for drawing out some pretty terrifying displays of anger.
In the NBA, there are essentially two ways for referees to punish players acting out: technical fouls and flagrant fouls. Technicals are often doled out to players engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct, such as arguing with referees or taunting opponents. Flagrant fouls are called on players who commit “unnecessary and excessive contact” against opponents, according to the NBA rule book.
Both types of fouls represent instances where anger or carelessness prevails over cooler heads. To determine which players the stats say have the worst tempers on the court, PointAfter calculated which guys have averaged the most combined technical and flagrant fouls per game dating back to the 2013-14 season, then found an example of an outburst for each player on YouTube.
Each of the 30 players listed average at least one technical or flagrant foul per 10 games. As you’ll see, it’s not a good idea to get on the wrong side of these towering NBA bad boys.
Note: All statistics are accurate as of March 22, 2016. Ties were broken by personal fouls per game dating back to the 2013-14 season.
#30. Josh Smith
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.100
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 20
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 1
#29. Carmelo Anthony
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.100
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 17
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 1
#28. Hassan Whiteside
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.102
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 9
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 2
#27. Jusuf Nurkic
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.106
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 6
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 3
#26. Kenneth Faried
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.106
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 20
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 3
#25. Andre Drummond
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.107
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 22
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 3
#24. P.J. Tucker
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.110
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 25
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 0
#23. Marcus Morris
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.112
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 24
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 2
#22. Nick Young
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.113
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 15
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 3
#21. Patrick Beverley
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.117
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 20
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 0
#20. Spencer Hawes
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.125
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 23
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 2
#19. Joakim Noah
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.125
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 22
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 0
#18. Amar’e Stoudemire
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.127
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 21
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 0
#17. Chris Paul
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.130
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 24
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 3
#16. Lance Stephenson
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.132
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 24
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 2
#15. Isaiah Thomas
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.134
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 27
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 1
#14. DeAndre Jordan
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.134
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 27
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 4
#13. Kendrick Perkins
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.136
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 17
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 4
#12. Kyle Lowry
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.138
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 27
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 3
#11. Draymond Green
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.148
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 31
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 3
#10. O.J. Mayo
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.152
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 21
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 4
#9. Tyson Chandler
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.154
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 25
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 4
#8. Kevin Durant
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.158
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 26
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 1
#7. Matt Barnes
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.163
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 26
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 7
#6. Kevin Garnett
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.173
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 23
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 1
#5. Russell Westbrook
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.180
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 32
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 1
#4. Markieff Morris
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.184
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 36
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 4
#3. Dwight Howard
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.211
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 31
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 5
#2. Blake Griffin
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.226
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 39
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 1
#1. DeMarcus Cousins
Technical/Flagrant fouls per game: 0.243
Technical fouls in past three seasons: 46
Flagrant fouls in past three seasons: 0
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