From Mahorn to Jordan: a brief guide to the NBA’s finest trashtalkers
IIn the NBA, there is a skill critical to winning that is not often taught in camps or clinics. Some are born with it and while they can hone the trait over time, it isn’t always obvious from a distance, like speed or springy legs. It is the timeless art of trash talking and basketball, a sport that is compared to it one played in underwearwhere there are no helmets and open space is scarce, verbal fighting often takes place.
But who is the best? Who has the most powerful style? Who could be so brave as to give their teams an advantage before the sneakers were even laced up? Indeed, whose tongues provide the best weapons? Let’s dig in.
But first the honorable mentions: Darryl Dawkins, Sam Cassell (see: dancing marbles), Luka Dončić, Patrick Beverley, Trae Young (see: Ice Trae), Rasheed Wallace, John Starks and George Gervin.
10) Rick Mahorn
When the Detroit Pistons won their first championship as the Bad Boys, it was 1989 and power forward Rick Mahorn started most of the games. But that wasn’t because of his counting stats. Averaging about seven points and seven rebounds, Mahorn played because he intimidated. He could make someone fly in the air (like Michael Jordan). And he was able to protect his own superstar, 6-foot-4 Isiah Thomas. All those muscles also included a big mouth. “He had a lot to say,” former Piston Earl Cureton told the Guardian. And it came at a time when talking wasn’t as widespread as it is today. “In my day you would get punched in the mouth if you couldn’t substantiate it,” Cureton says. To wit, Mahorn once told it colossal Karl Malone bluntly: “I got six fouls; They all have your name on them, so bring it.”
9) Draymond green
Speaking of punching people in the mouth, the driving force of the Golden State Warriors, Draymond Green, gets so worked up and excited that he even starts talking trash to him (or punch) his own teammates. If you watch a Warriors game, it doesn’t seem like Green does that ever stop talking. It is truly awe-inspiring. For most people, it seems like constant chewing takes energy. But for Green, it’s like him receives energy of it. The point center, four-time champion and defensive player of the year talks trash at parades, in practice, on the bus, on the plane and to the press. It’s constant. If he was alone in a forest talking nonsense, it would definitely make a sound. But when surrounded by fans in the NBA Finals, Green’s words were the same as when he called the star of stars LeBron James a ‘bitch’ are heard far and wide.
8) Kobe Bryant
“Certain players are afraid” said the late, great Kobe Bryant. But he certainly wasn’t one of them. Instead, Bryant leaned on his opponents’ fear and gnawed at it. For Bryant, being the best meant making everyone feel like the worst. Like when he belittled former teammate Dwight Howard on the field and called him ‘soft as fuck”. To many, the former Laker was the greatest player of his generation. Not just because of the five rings or the many game-winning shots, but because he kept the mental edge over everyone else in a game both between the ears and between the lines. He was the sport’s bogeyman with a sharp tongue. John Wick crossed with Freddy Krueger.
7) Charles Barkley
If there’s one thing we remember Charles Barkley’s basketball career for, it’s probably his statement in the summer of 1992 while playing for the Dream Team. During a press conference, Barkley looked the reporters in the eye and said with a straight face about the upcoming opponent for his American team: “I don’t know anything about Angola. But Angola is in trouble.‘If the Angola team weren’t already shaking in their sneakers, they must have thought about forfeiting afterwards. Barkley is such a good talker that he has managed to make millions as a broadcaster today.
6) Michel Ray Richardson
Like Draymond Green, Michael Ray Richardson’s mouth never stood still during an NBA game. The man known as Sugar, who led the league in assists and steals during his sophomore year, was known for talking trash to anyone within earshot. Whether it was guys trying to guard him or the press about how the Knicks’sinking ship‘ or when, after being banned from the NBA, he went abroad to play another sixteen years, Richardson kept his motor mouth going all the time. He would even be in the opposite dressing room and telling people he would “kick their ass”. The four-time NBA All-Star later continued to coach in the CBA and USBL, often committing technical errors. “Intimidation is part of being a successful basketball player and Sugar was the best,” LA Lakers great Michael Cooper told The Guardian.
5) Kevin Garnett
You know you’re a top-five trash talker when you can surpass another all-time great. And Kevin Garnett did just that with Charles Barkley in a few syllables on national television. Barkley was left without words. But we’re not just talking about TV here. We highlight hardwood heroics. And Garnett is simply the Picasso of talk. Known for shouting things like “I smell blood!” while people were shooting free throws (and that’s just the tip of the tip of the iceberg), Garnett was driven by his own verbal attacks. It was his morning coffee. “To stand still is to go backwards,” Garnett wrote his 2021 memoir.
4) Gary Payton
With the Seattle Supersonics, Gary Payton was known as the Glove for his tight defense. But if that name was somehow already taken, Payton could have been called the Snarl. It seemed like his upper lip was always up, emitting some sort of skeleton-shaking nonsense. He used to ride teammates like Michael Cage to want to visit the actual library to get a little rest. Like KG and Draymond, Payton revved his engines by talking, thinking that if he could distract his opponent and get under their skin, he would have the ultimate advantage. So, he never shut up. Like the time he went eyebrow to eyebrow with Michael Jordan, cursing and grinning at His Airness.
3) Michael Jordan
When it comes to supporting the speech, there was no one like that of the Chicago Bulls. Michael Jeffrey Jordan. More than basketball, it seemed like he was ultimately simply looking to dominate someone else. It took place in games and during training, and even caused guys like Steve Kerr to get into a physical fight with him. Jordan wanted to destroy his teammates with his play and his talk and if they could handle it, he knew they could handle the playoff war. When he played against another team, Jordan knew his resume spoke so loudly that all he had to do was recite it to make opponents weak in the knees. He even did talked nonsense into meaningless All-Star Games. Not to mention ruthless in it play-off matches.
2) Reggie Miller
Whether he challenges world-famous film directors the choking signto get in headbutt competitions With All-Star guards like John Starks or with entire crowds in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers is an all-rounder when it comes to trash-spewing. But it all started in the backyard, playing one-on-one with his Hall of Famer basketball sister Cheryl. It was together on the field where the siblings learned the power and value of a good verbal barb. Not only did he want to learn to take the other person off their game, but he wanted to teach himself to be mentally strong enough to ignore what was said to him. Miller perfected it all and made a career out of it. The funniest villain in sports in the 1990s.
1) Larry Vogel
He couldn’t run that fast. He couldn’t jump very high. But he was one of the most skilled. One of the smartest. He was too the best trash talker the game has ever seen. While some superstars like Julius Erving didn’t talk much, Bird always offered venom. “The best trash talker I played with was Larry Bird,” Michael Ray Richardson told The Guardian. Bird famously came out of a timeout with the game on the line and told the man guarding him exactly where and when he was going to hit the game winner. Then he would do exactly what he said and walk away. “You know I’m going to get the ball.” He would say things like that to you,” Cureton says. “Then he would support it.” Bird also famously walked into the locker room before an All-Star three-point game and asked the participants, all NBA veterans: “Who’s playing for second place??” That’s the kind of brazen talk that will get you to the top here.