NBA: Matthew Dellavedova, Steven Adams Voted Dirtiest Players in the League
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova was voted the dirtiest player in the NBA in a poll made by the Los Angeles Times. Dellavedova received a total of 13 votes from the 24 anonymous coaches, assistants and players around the league.
The 25-year-old's reputation as a dirty player started in last year's postseason when he injured Atlanta Hawks' Kyle Korver. Some of his actions also led to retaliations from Al Horford and the Chicago Bull's Taj Gibson causing them to get ejected.
Dellavedova fell into Horford's leg during a loose ball play and the Hawks center earned a flagrant foul 2 when he elbowed the Australian. On the other hand, the Bulls big man kicked Dellavedova when he fell to the court while holding his legs around the Gibson's foot.
"He was kind of dirty in the playoffs, for sure. He broke Kyle Korver's leg. He held Taj Gibson with his legs and Al Horford's legs and got them kicked out the games because they retaliated against him," one Eastern Conference coach said.
However, Dellavedova was defended by some of the voters, saying he is not really a dirty player but an "accidentally" dirty player, one young coach from the East said. He also added that the Cavs player is a quality backup point guard in the NBA.
"He ain't dirty. He just plays hard. See, guys resent people that play hard because they don't want to play hard. So if a guy plays hard, he's dirty. He's not dirty. He just plays hard. People question the play he made in the playoffs against Korver. I just think it was poor judgment," one Eastern Conference assistant added.
Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams was voted second with seven votes while Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut comes next with five. Memphis Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes and Thunder forward Serge Ibaka rounds out the top five of the dirtiest players in the NBA.
The top three players are all from the Australian continent with Dellavedova and Bogut coming from Australia while Steven Adams is a native of New Zealand, per the Sydney Morning Herald. Both Adams and Bogut have the notoriety in the league using their seven-foot frames to set hard screens, giving up elbows and hard fouls.
In a recent list by the Cheat Sheet, Charles Oakley was named the dirtiest player in NBA history while the Utah Jazz duo of Karl Malone and John Stockton came in at second and third, respectively. Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer of the "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons were also named in the top five.
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