Top 5 least favorite NBA players

[Mainstreet]

Late entry to my list and one that puts him near the top.

How could I forget about Danny Fortson taking out Zarko. It was brutal.

 

[swagron]

Utah’s racists fans

 

[Krangodnzr]

Late entry to my list and one that puts him near the top.

How could I forget about Danny Fortson taking out Zarko. It was brutal.

Clear intent to injure.

Fortson should've faced criminal charges.

 

[Hoop Head]

Late entry to my list and one that puts him near the top.

How could I forget about Danny Fortson taking out Zarko. It was brutal.

I included him on mine. He was someone I thought of after I already had 5 but he deserved a mention still. I was really high on Zarko back in the day and remember Fortson ending his career, essentially. I know Zarko played again but he was a deer in headlights after that and I can't blame him all that much.

I've always wondered how much that incident played a role in Colangelo selling the team. It happened about a year or so before he sold and I would think the team would have been on the market at that point but it may have just been something discussed internally. I know Colangelo was none too happy with the league office and David Stern for basically brushing off the entire incident. Yes, Fortson was suspended but that should have happened whether Jerry made a phone call or not. Fortson had the audacity to come out and blame Jerry for assassinating his character later on, which was a joke.

Here's a good article from Bright Side that recaps everything about that ordeal from 2016. Worth a read now that the Suns are on a little high currently. I don't know if I could have read this during our 17 game losing streak though.

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/...-of-zarko-cabarkapa-by-the-thug-danny-fortson

 

[Mainstreet]

I think Jerry selling the Suns had more to do with health reasons and getting his estate in order.

The Fortson incident really ran against the grain of who he was as a human being and that of a business man as well. He didn't like how Stern handled the matter.

Of course his judgement was proved right years later after he sold the Suns in the infamous Amare and Diaw suspensions.

 

[Phrazbit]

Marion was never the same after Starks undercut him. And the NBA decided there was no intent despite clear video evidence that it was done on purpose. I've never understood nor forgiven them for that decision, it bothered me (bothers me) even more than the Boris/Amare suspensions.

For sure. It amazes me how many Suns fans remember that play, which took place before boards like this one, and how much it changed Marion's play style. He was still an absolutely amazing player after that play, but he held himself back a bit, athletically, in the paint. Prior to that he would fly around in the paint like dudes do undefended in the dunk contest, soaring above everyone, he was the best leaper I've ever seen, especially that "2nd leap", he could jump higher than everyone and then get back up in the air at almost the same height when the other players were still gathering themselves. He still had that and you'd see him untilize it here and there after the Starks play but he was a lot more weary of his surroundings and didn't try to, literally, jump over people anymore.

And, no question, Stark did it on purpose. Like most Knick players of the era (even though he was on Utah at the time) he was trained to straddle the line between "manslaughter" and "hard nosed basketball".