Who has the most NBA technical fouls in the last 50 years?
In today's NBA, a player who receives 16 technical fouls in a season is suspended for one game without pay. For every two additional technical fouls, he receives a subsequent one-game suspension.
This rule was implemented in 2006 thanks in large part to Rasheed Wallace, who was whistled for an NBA-record 41 technical fouls during the 2000-01 season. It has significantly limited the number of technical fouls in recent years. Over the past five NBA seasons, Draymond Greenis the only player who has received more than 20 technicals.
Who are the top five technical foul leaders in the past 50 years in the NBA? Note:Technical fouls can occasionally be rescinded by the NBA in the aftermath of a game or a season.
5. Dennis Rodman, 212
Rodman was great at racking up rebounds ... and technicals. He was one of the best hustle players in NBA history, diving for loose balls and doing whatever he could to help his team win games. However, he was also one of the NBA's biggest instigators. Combine that with his big personality and refusal to back down from referees, and you get the fifth-most technicals in NBA history.
4. Gary Payton, 250
Not only was Payton an all-time great defender, he's widely regarded as the greatest trash-talker in NBA history. Payton was a pest who would get under opponents' skin.
Payton's style of play and ability to frustrate his peers led to quite a few altercations and technicals over the course of his 17-year NBA career. And while opposing players got the bulk of Payton's wrath, he had plenty of verbal barbs for referees, too.
3. Rasheed Wallace, 317
Ask NBA fans to name the all-time leader in technical fouls, and Rasheed Wallace will likely be the most popular response. Throughout his 16-year NBA career, Wallace became synonymous with technicals. He argued with referees constantly and openly shared his disdain for various officials. Wallace holds the NBA record for most technical fouls in a single season with 41. Although he mellowed out as he got older, there was a stretch where Wallace was averaging a tech every other night. While Wallace was a headache for referees, he believes he couldn't have become a four-time All-Star and NBA champion without that fiery passion.
"That's that heart, that's that soul," Wallace told ESPN. "For me to just go out there and play a game without giving the refs something or without giving the fans something, it's not me. I'm not that quiet type. That's Tim Duncan... He's a silent assassin. Me? Nah, ain't no silence with me."
2. Charles Barkley, 329
Before Barkley was a beloved TV analyst, he was a superstar power forward who was known as one of the bad boys of the NBA. He got into altercations (on and off the court), confronted hecklers and jawed at referees. Barkley fought Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Oakley, Patrick Ewing and Vernon Maxwell, among others, and he famously declared that he is not a role model for the next generation. While Barkley didn't rack up as many technical fouls as the No. 1 player on this list, he does hold the NBA record for averaging the most technical fouls per game (.28).
1. Karl Malone, 332
It seems extremely unlikely that any player will be able to surpass Karl Malone as the all-time leader in technical fouls. It was a game-changer when the NBA began suspending players who reach 16 technical fouls in a single season. These days, it's tough for players to rack up the number of technicals that Malone and his peers were able to accumulate during their playing days. Malone was a physical player with a nasty streak and sharp elbows who refused to back down from opponents or officials.
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