These players put fear in their opponent's hearts, not because of their skill or the number of

points they were scoring – but because of their sheer physical strength and willingness to
throw hands at any given moment.

This is a list of players that nobody wanted to mess with –

the scariest NBA players of all time:

JAMES JOHNSON

There were plenty of NBA players who could fight – but only one was a real MMA fighter.

James Johnson, a 6 foot 7, 240-pound power forward who currently plays for the Pacers –
was a lead vote-getter in a survey of "who in the league you would least like to fight".

Since he was 5 years old - Johnson trained karate and is a black belt. He’s also competed in
kickboxing with a 20-0 amateur record, and a 7-0 MMA record.

He even said he could beat Jon Jones if he had enough time to train wrestling.

"The whole league would say the same thing," one player said of Johnson. "That's not
smoke they want. I've seen it in person."

VERNON MAXWELL

And it's easy to be a bully when you're one of the biggest and strongest guys on the court.
But how about being one of the most terrifying players in the NBA – while weighing less
than 200 pounds?

Vernon Maxwell was listed at 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds - but his nickname ''Mad Max'' says
everything you need to know.

During his career, Maxwell was fighting everybody - guards, centers, opponents, teammates,
and even spectators!

VIDEO OF MAX FIGHTING A FAN

And while he was in Houston, Max got into a heated argument with teammate Hakeem
Olajuwon - and nearly stabbed him to death.

OLAJUWON STORY

But Mad Max didn’t stop there, because In 2000, when he played for Seattle – Mad Max
wanted to beat up another teammate, Gary Payton.
Vernon wanted to fight Payton so bad, that he ended up hurting two of his teammates who
tried to be peacemakers.

PRIME SHAQ

And This next guy also dabbled in MMA - But he also happens to be the most physically
dominant player of all time.

Shaq's meanest dunks

During his prime - Shaq weighed between 330 and 370 pounds. And yet, he could move like
a ballet dancer.

His combination of size, strength, and agility was unmatched – and nobody could stop the
Shaq Attack. Not only was Shaq dominant – he was also vicious towards his opponents.

KOBE QUOTE

''The morning after you played Shaq, it always felt like you were in a fight. You were sore
from head to toe.'' – Nazr Mohammed

RICHARD JEFFERSON TIM LEGLER QUOTE

KENYON MARTIN QUOTE

CHARLES BARKLEY

And when it comes to Shaq's dear frenemy on Inside the NBA – it's safe to say he had a little
temper as well.

SHAQ BARKLEY FIGHT

Charles Barkley was an undersized big man, standing at only 6 foot 6 – but he was athletic,
extremely physical, and wasn't backing down from anybody.

KEVIN GARNETT QUOTE

Barkley's list of fights and on-court incidents is extremely long - starting with this forearm
knockdown.

PAUL MOHESKY PUNCH

Or that time when he single-handedly fought the Bad Boy Pistons.

BILL LAIMBEER FIGHT

Barkley's career was even in jeopardy at one point, because he was not only fighting on the
court – but getting into brawls with civilians.

Like that time in 1997, when he got arrested after throwing a man through a glass window at
a bar.

Or in 1991, when Sir Charles infamously spat on a young girl sitting in the crowd while
aiming to spit on someone else.

When you combine that with all the fighting, cursing, and trash-talk – Chuck was one of the
baddest to ever lace 'em up.

But how about being one of the craziest?

RON ARTEST

MALICE AT THE PALACE VIDEO

Ron Artest served an 86-game suspension for the most gruesome incident in NBA history –
but that was just one of his many incidents on the court.

From the moment he came to the league in 1999, until he won a championship with Kobe in
2010 – Artest was always one of the most physical and aggressive defenders that nobody
wanted to play against.

In 2001 – when Jordan was prepping for his 2nd un-retirement, Artest broke his ribs in a
pickup game.

But beyond being a world-class defender and a defensive player of the year – Ron instilled
fear in opponents because he was a wild man.

Artest drank alcohol before or even during games, and he'd always play on the edge of
getting ejected. In 2003 – he nearly fought Pat Riley and the whole Miami Heat bench – and
that same year, in a game against the Knicks - Ron got so mad that he destroyed some poor
cameraman’s equipment.

You’d think he’d calm down after serving his suspension for Malice at the Palace – But
Artest just continued to punch people in the face.

In 2007 – Artest had to spend 20 days in jail for another off-court incident – because he beat
up his wife.

But, despite changing his name to Metta World Peace in 2011 – his old habits remained.
Just ask James Harden.
HARDEN BLOW TO THE HEAD

CHARLES OAKLEY

A decade before Artest started punching people on NBA courts – one particular bully was
more terrifying than anybody.

OAKLEY FIGHTS COMPILATION

Charles Oakley came to the league in 1985 – and he quickly gained a reputation for being
an enforcer.

When you needed a hard foul – Oakley was there. When a fight broke out between players –
Oak was right in the middle of it.

VIDEO

In 1989 – he squared up against Xavier McDaniel, another colorful character who could
easily be on this list. OAK vs X-Man

In the 1996 preseason, Oakley and Barkley got tangled up on a rebound and Oakley tossed
Barkley to the floor. It didn't matter that it was preseason – as both players immediately
started swinging and got ejected.

During the 1997 playoffs - Oak got into a fight with Alonzo Mourning.

And the Next year, these two hotheads got into it again.

In 2000, Oakley punched the Clippers' guard Jeff McInnis after a dispute over a mutual
romantic interest. Oakley didn't even wait for the game to start – he punched McInnis during
a pre-game shootaround.

But maybe the biggest ass-whooping Oakley ever dealt was that of Tyrone Hill – who Oakley
beat up over a gambling debt.
Even after he retired from the league – Oak wasn't done fighting, as there were several
reports of him beating up people who dared to step up to him.

BEN WALLACE
However, Oakley wasn't all brute and no heart – and he's the main reason one other scary
guy even made it to the NBA.

When he was a high school kid – Ben Wallace attended Charles Oakley's basketball camp,
and Oakley being Oakley, punched him in the face.
VIDEO

Because he showed no fear and played with tenacious energy – Oakley immediately fell in
love with Wallace's game, and he recommended him to his alma mater, Virginia Union
University.

Without Oakley – Big Ben might have never played in the NBA – but once he made the
league, he showed immediately that he was made of the same material as his mentor.
At 6 foot 9 – Wallace was the shortest center in the league – but they called him Big Ben for
a reason.

See, Ben was a fitness freak who never left the gym, and could bench 400 pounds. Due to
his muscular body, mean face and crazy afro – nobody was messing with him – and it didn’t
end well for the ones who tried.

BEN WALLACE FIGHTS

Honorable mention goes to his teammate Rasheed Wallace – a guy who couldn't control his
anger and who played like a ticking time bomb. Sheed was a walking technical foul – and
he's the all-time leader in techs in a season with 41.

BILL LAIMBEER AND DENNIS RODMAN

But – two Wallace's are not the baddest Detroit big men of all time. That title belongs to Bill
Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn, who put the Bad in the Bad Boy Pistons.

There wasn't an NBA player in the 80s who wasn't punched, elbowed, or shown to the floor
by Detroit's big men – and they long had a reputation for being the dirtiest players ever,
especially Laimbeer.

While Mahorn was setting hard screens and throwing punches – Laimbeer was also
notorious for planting his feet in the player's landing space – which resulted in plenty of ankle
injuries.

BIRD HATES LAIMBEER

And the final part of the Bad Boys frontcourt trio - played the hardest of them all.
Dennis Rodman was called the Worm – but his other nickname, Dennis the Menace,
probably suits him even better.

Playing with unlimited energy – Rodman would get in opponents' faces, he'd trip them,
annoy them, and not let them breathe.

RODMAN VS KARL MALONE

Dennis wasn't the scariest player ever, but he was certainly one of the most irritating and
physically difficult to play against – nobody had an easy night against Rodman.

JERRY STACKHOUSE

And this next player was far from biggest or the strongest. Yet - nobody wanted to mess
with him – not even Shaq.

Standing at 6 foot 6 and 220 pounds, he may not look like a bruiser, but Jerry Stackhouse
was a bad man and somebody who you didn't want to get angry.

Stackhouse's fists have a long list of NBA faces on their resume. In 1996 he landed a couple
of big haymakers on Jeff Hornacek during the game.

In ‘97 - Stack punched Allen Iverson in the face in practice, who was one of his best friends
on the Sixers.

However, if you think that Stack only went after little guys, think twice. In ‘99 Stackhouse
beat the hell out 6 foot 10 Christian Laettner over a gambling debt.

But the coup de grace of his fighting career happened in 2005 when he brutally beat down
Jazz rookie Kirk Synder. After the game in which Snyder provoked Stackhouse, Jerry asked
his equipment manager for a tracksuit so he wouldn't mess up his suit.

He then walked to the Jazz bus and put a smackdown on Snyder, after which arena security
testified that "Snyder received a severe beating."

Treating it like another day at the office - Stackhouse returned to the locker room, calmly
handed over the tracksuit to the equipment manager, and put on his suit and tie like nothing
happened.

In the 2006 Finals – after he fouled Shaq super hard – nobody from the Heat said a thing to
Jerry, and even Shaq just walked away.

LATRELL SPREWELL

And the last, but not least scary person on this list will always be remembered for his
violence, and not for his 4 All-Star appearances.

It’s Latrell Sprewell, whose career lowlight is the 1997 choking of P.J. Carlesimo, his coach
on the Golden State Warriors. Carlesimo yelled at Sprewell to try a little harder in practice
and wanted him to put a little mustard on his passes.
Spree was in a bad mood that day, and something triggered him to attack his coach. Latrell
threatened to kill his coach and started dragging him backward by his throat like a ragdoll,
proceeding to choke out Carlesimo for a good 10 seconds before he got pulled away by his
teammates.

After he spent 10 minutes in the locker room – Spree still wasn’t satisfied and came back to
attack his coach again.

Because of apparent marks on Carlesimo's neck, the NBA issued an investigation and
suspended Sprewell for 68 games without pay.

But, this wasn’t the only beating of Spree’s career. In 1995, he beat up teammate Jerome
Kersey and then returned to practice with a two-by-four, threatening to kill Kersey.

Then to top it off, in 2002, he came to the Knicks practice camp with a broken hand – which
he broke after an assault on his yacht.

And before we finish this off – here’s a couple more honorable mentions of the scariest guys
ever.

There’s Karl Malone – the all-time leader in technical fouls and the unofficial all-time leader
in elbows thrown.

VIDEO OF MALONE ELBOWING PLAYERS

Then there’s Kenyon Martin, who made a career out of being tougher and meaner than his
opponents.

Kevin Garnett made most rookies’ lives a living hell, Ivan Johnson was called Ivan the
terrible and made people uncomfortable just by his presence, and the two hosts of the All
Smoke podcast were no strangers to a fistfight.

Javaris Crittenton, Anthony Mason, David West, Quincy Acy, and Udonis Haslem all deserve
a mention as well.

If you think we forgot somebody, please let us know in the comments – And check out some
of our other videos on the screen now.