Who are the scrappiest NBA players from the 1980s and 1990s?

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In addition to highlighting the greatness, competitiveness, intensity and pettiness of Michael Jordan, one thing "The Last Dance" does with most every episode is shine a light on the physicality of the NBA at the end of the last century.
 
Where have all the tough guys gone? They’ve been legislated out of the game.

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I mean, guys are still tough — Steven Adams wouldn’t be out there shrinking from anybody if he was prowling a dimly-lit court in the early 80s; same with Marcus Smart — but the mayhem is gone because it got too extreme. The watershed moments I remember? Kermit Washington nearly decapitating Rudy Tomjanovich in 1977, all the Celtics-Sixers and Celtics-Lakers fights of the early 80s and finally, the entry of the "Bad Boy" Pistons and then the devolution of the game when the Knicks and Heat came to the fore after the Pistons.

Guys beat the crap out of each other in a way that’s just not allowed in today’s game. Now, because rules are so strict, the best players in the league are more adept at selling contact than dishing it out.

The style of the game also played into the transformation. The post-up game that revolved around big men hammering at each other to gain position for layups, dunks and free throws has long since been replaced by the five-out, drive-and-kick, pick-and-pop style that’s more aesthetically pleasing and athletically challenging.

Not only was Jordan the greatest player of his era (or any), he was also among the toughest. He fought everyone. Happily. He was a superstar AND an enforcer. And he wasn’t alone in that dual role.

The whole thing got me reminiscing and then researching who were the scrappiest, nastiest, fightinest, meanest players who overlapped with Jordan. Here are my 14.

Click here for the gallery.

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