4 most irritating and frustrating players in the NBA

Tim Duncan is revered for being many things - basketball expert, team leader, a quiet and polite personality. In his own way, he was like the teachers' favorite student - unassuming, ready to do whatever Coach Pop told him to do, and always calm under stress or provocation. That's especially impressive considering he had people like Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton talking him down on the court.

That last part cannot be stressed enough.

The NBA has always been home to drama and controversy. Even the off-season has news, as Bobby Portis proved last year when he landed his own teammate in the hospital with a couple of punches.

Usually the drama behind the scenes is the spiciest, such as Chicago Bulls' players going all-in on a mutiny less than a week after their new coach took charge, or the infamous Jimmy Butler practice at Target Center, where Butler said he took only one shot.

Some of the best rivalries and most intriguing bad blood start through trash talking and provocations, and that is unlikely to change no matter how strict the NBA referees become.

Here are the best trash talkers of the league, in no particular order:

1) Jimmy Butler

He falls under that tremendously popular I-will-trash-you-in-talk-AND-on-the-court-as-well, which was popularized by icons such as Jordan, Kobe and Garnett.

When I first read the news surrounding that practice, I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe it was an Onion article.

But no, it was true: after roundly insulting all the starters on the Timberwolves roster, Butler took them to school with the third stringers of that team, and beat the starters. Karl Anthony Towns, the glorified unicorn of the future, refused to post him up and passed the ball. Andrew Wiggins was so thoroughly cowed that he spent the next 11 games looking like he didn't know how to score.

Butler has since (i.e. because of that behaviour) been traded to the Sixers, a team with multiple volatile personalities like Simmons and Troll God Joel Embiid. He hasn't stopped his talk, saying it's all good and natural for a competitor like him.

(The man hasn't gotten out of the first round of the playoffs. Not even once. You have to wonder how high his ceiling is and whether he hasn't already passed it.)

He even said Blake Griffin couldn't score on him, which considering Griffin's current form is an invite for a nice, old school clash between them.

I like Butler. I hope he hangs around in Philly long enough to finally talk some sense into Simmons about getting that jumper on point.

Honorable mentions: Draymond Green, Joel Embiid.

2) Pat Beverley

Los Angeles Clippers v Washington Wizards

This is the small, overly aggressive, I-have-issues-because-I-play-in-a-league-of giants, kind of irritant.

What Beverley lacks in height he more than makes up for in terms of tenacity. Sometimes this ends disastrously, like the case where he infamously took out Westbrook's knees in a playoff matchup between them. This was a couple seasons ago, and he made (and tripped) his way into memory lane when he nearly did the same thing again this season.

Most people know that "rock the baby" is Westbrook's celebration. He's earned the right to "rock the baby to sleep" after a thunderous dunk or yet another shaky jumper. No one has ever been the league's scoring MVP while averaging a triple double. No one.

So when Westbrook did it on Beverley after scoring, it seemed perfectly natural (Westbrook has a son and two daughters). However, Beverley's audacity to do it to the Thunder after he scored seemed very irritating, not just to me but also the Thunder themselves, who promptly worked themselves into a frenzy.

A lot of smaller guards are irritating and maddening, but none as much as Pat Beverley.

Honorable mentions: Jamal Murray, Chris Paul.

3) Andrew Wiggins/Jabari Parker

These are the worst sort of irritants, because they become irritants in the easiest and laziest way in the book: not working hard enough to reach their potential.

Ironically, they were taken in the first and second picks of 2014, for their vast potential. Maple Jordan went to Minny, where he's signed a max contract, and Parker is now currently with the Bulls, where he's the highest paid player.

Parker's most irritating vice is his complete refusal to play defense, and unlike Harden, be completely uncaring about it. He went so far as to say players weren't paid to do defense. Well, fast forward two weeks and the Bulls are trying to trade him, which should send a message: players aren't paid at all if they don't play defense.

Wiggins just never reached his potential on a consistent basis: his talent shines through in short bursts. He'll erupt for seven straight 20+ point games and go scoreless the next three.

Frustrating for Minnesota fans and more than a little irritating for his teammates, we can assume it must be maddening not knowing which version of Wiggins will suit up every single game.

4) Flop artists

I hate James Harden. Opposing players not named Westbrook hate Harden. Courtside viewers hate Harden (when someone flops for fouls to an extent where live onlookers can't watch the game properly, that someone will receive a lot of justifiable hate).

In fact, LeBron and his Lakers spent time against the Rockets playing defense with their hands behind their back because the Harden-Paul duo spent so much time selling fouls to the soft referees of today.

Selling fouls is a masterclass in theatricality and efficient offense, something Harden and Paul are well known for. Harden makes his living at the free throw line and behind the arc, the most efficient scoring areas for him.

In fact, when anyone says "flopper" in any NBA conversation, this particular Rockets duo immediately crop up. It's that bad.

This season's boxing match between Rondo and Paul started more or less because Harden sold the refs on an Ingram foul, to which he retaliated by shoving Harden hard.

I guess every NBA player has wanted to do that at least once to the 2017-18 MVP.