It’s time for our next category of Spurs villains. This time, we’re looking for your votes on “dirty” players. These are the players who committed aggressive plays against the Spurs, injuring (or attempting to injure) a player, or altering a playoff match-up. Readers will vote for the biggest villain in a poll, and the winner of each match-up will advance to the next round, with the eventual winner crowned as the Biggest Spurs Villain of all time. Let’s get to the voting!
1. Zaza Pachulia (The Slide) vs. 8. Lu Dort (West Finals shenanigans, Barnes trip in regular season)
The play so famous the NBA
literally had to change its rules. It’s not a stretch to say that Zaza Pachulia taking out Kawhi Leonard on that jump shot completely altered the direction of the Spurs franchise. San Antonio was swept in the series after winning 60+ games that year, and Leonard forced his way out of town very shortly afterwards. The slide is one of the most negatively impactful plays in franchise history and literally changed the league.
Lu Dort, on the other hand, is an annoying, scrappy player who, from time to time, has some egregious moments. The sheer volume of incidents from Dort against the Spurs could make a case for him here. Let’s count them:
- Sticks out his leg to trip Victor Wembanyama AND Harrison Barnes on separate three-point shots
- Seemingly dives into De’Aaron Fox’s injured ankle in Game Three of the Western Conference Finals
- Nearly smacks Wembanyama in the face after he’s already on the ground in Game Two of the WCF
- Flying knee kick into Barnes’ side jumping on a pump fake (I don’t think this one is dirty per se, but it’s physical
Dort is the 8th seed here because his antics didn’t ultimately add up to anything. San Antonio still defeated the Thunder and advanced to the Finals. His impact on the franchise isn’t anywhere close to Pachulia’s dirty play.
2. Karl Malone (The Elbow) vs. 7. Raja Bell (battles with Manu)
Sometimes a dirty play has some gray area. There is no gray area when a player is knocked unconscious. Karl Malone’s elbow is one of clear frustration that knocked out Robinson. It is somehow not the worst thing that Malone has ever done in his life!
Raja Bell and Manu Ginobili had some battles during their time. The most famous play between the two is probably the double flop. There are a few hard fouls here and there, but nothing that is overtly dirty. Malone is the clear winner here.
3. Eduardo Najera (Mavs enforcer, hurt Rose in 03, Manu in 10) vs. 6. DeJuan Blair (Tiago kick)
Eduardo Najera mentioned in 2026? Only in a Spurs dirty player draft. Najera’s most famous play is probably when he used both of his arms to throw Ginobili to the ground in the 2010 playoffs (this is while Manu had a broken nose). But he also smacked Tony Parker in the face in the playoffs, and collided with Malik Rose in the 2003 playoffs. There is enough volume and severity of dirty plays here to make him a top-three seed.
We also have the rare former-Spur make the list! DeJuan Blair’s full-on donkey kickto Tiago Splitter’s head is an insane play. It’s a move you’d see in the UFC octagon, not on the basketball court. It’s bad enough to potentially upset Najera in the first round.
4. Juwan Howard (Derek Anderson karate chop) vs. 5. Kevin Garnett (trash talker)
I was initially surprised to see Kevin Garnett on this list. Yes, I know he has the reputation as one of the NBA’s finest trash talkers, but I never considered him to be overly dirty toward the Spurs. That was until I read this alleged story about Garnett telling Tim Duncan “happy Mother’s Day” during a game on the holiday, nine years after Duncan’s mother had passed away from breast cancer. There is no way to corroborate if that story is true, but if it is, he more than deserves the five seed on this list.
The Juwan Howard play does not look good 25 years later, but in this interview he seems genuinely remorseful, and even went as far as to visit the Spurs’ locker room to apologize for the play. Plus, San Antonio did go on to win the series against the Mavericks 4-1. Would Anderson have helped San Antonio defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals? He was only averaging 7.7 points in the playoffs prior to the injury, and the Spurs did get swept. We will never know.
The Garnett story is a legitimate low blow, vs. a seemingly innocent, but overaggressive play from Howard. I know which way I would lean here.
