From my decades worth of watching the NBA, these are the top 5.
5. Karl Malone, elbows, cheapshots and allaround dirty play(just ask Isiah Thomas).
4. Bill Cartwright: one of the dirtiest bigmen who used dirty plays to gain and advantage(just ask Olajuwon).
3. John Stockton, used his "stock broker" looks to fool everyone into thinking he was a nice guy but would do whatever it took to get an unfair advantage including allegedly hitting opposing players in the groin.
2. Matt Harpring: very dirty player that I've seen go after people's knees and almost once broke Yao Ming's back with an extremely dirty play.
1. Shaq: Simply the DIRTIEST PLAYER TO EVER PLAY THE GAME.
The biggest bully the NBA's ever seen. Elbows defenders in the face, rams his shoulders into the defender, takes sucker punches at some of whom have their backs turned, commits flagrant 2 fouls on dunkers(even almost ENDED MJ and Vince Carter's careers after they tried to dunk on him).
During dunking on defenders he intentionally kicks them in the groin, knees them in the head, and elbows them after he lands, thows a quick forearm shiver on a guy 1/3rd his size(AK47), slapping Ostertag just because he shut Shaq down in the playoffs the previous year, etc.
Shaq NEVER EVER tries this kind of stuff on guys like Tractor Trailer or Anthony Mason whey they were guarding him, he's a CLASSIC coward and bully. I'd just love to see Mark Henry, Paul Wight or Dalip Singh give Shaq a taste of his own medicine.
Here are just a few of the tens of thousands of dirty plays Shaq has committed in his career.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DobXKM8CfuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwJoI0YEGI4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3FXLyNFew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A60KL...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaKLm...rom=PL&index=6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI85iVU3xkE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3LxYJKazAM