Study reveals Michigan State Spartans produce some of the worst behaved players in the NBA
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Spartans alumni are the fourth worst behaved in the NBA for fines, suspensions and ejections in the past 10 years
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Draymond Green is the most ill-disciplined player with 23 offenses, including $285,000 in fines, 20 games missed through suspensions, and 17 ejections
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Michigan Wolverines have the ninth best behaved players and saw only five ejections between 26 players
With the return of March Madness, a new study has revealed that the Michigan State Spartans develop some of the worst behaved players in the NBA.
As the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament takes center stage over the next 3 weeks, college basketball betting tips, predictions and news site, FlashPicks, analyzed the total number of fines, suspensions and ejections given out to NBA players since March 2014.
They then cross-referenced each offense to the college that the player attended and ranked each factor out of 10, to reveal the colleges that produce the most badly behaved professional NBA players.
According to the study, Michigan State Spartans were found to produce the fourth most ill-disciplined players, with a score of 28.8 out of 30. $335,000 was racked up in fines and suspensions caused players to miss 53 games.
Draymond Green who attended here accounts for $285,000 of those fines and was found to be the worst behaved individual in the league. Green has been ejected a whopping 17 times in 10 years and received two lengthy suspensions in late 2023 for physical altercations on the court.
Rivals Michigan Wolverines, is at the other end of the spectrum and ranks highly for their good behaviour, with the eighth best overall. With 26 alumni in the NBA over the past decade, just 18 games have been missed due to suspension, and there have been only five ejections from players that attended there.
The Colleges that produce the worst behaved NBA players
|
Rank |
College |
Total cost of fines |
No. of games missed due to suspension |
No. of ejections |
Total score / 30 |
|
1 |
Kentucky Wildcats |
$725,000 |
48 |
58 |
29.6 |
|
2 |
USC Trojans |
$260,000 |
167 |
27 |
29.2 |
|
3 |
Texas Longhorns |
$410,000 |
31 |
23 |
28.8 |
|
4 |
Michigan State Spartans |
$335,000 |
53 |
21 |
28.8 |
|
5 |
Kansas Jayhawks |
$705,000 |
7 |
30 |
28 |
|
6 |
Duke Blue Devils |
$405,000 |
9 |
23 |
27.6 |
|
7 |
UCLA Bruins |
$230,000 |
16 |
19 |
27.2 |
|
8 |
Washington Huskies |
$260,000 |
9 |
19 |
27.1 |
|
9 |
Wake Forest Demon Deacons |
$125,000 |
28 |
10 |
26.2 |
|
10 |
Florida Gators |
$160,000 |
42 |
5 |
25.1 |
Of the 110 colleges analyzed in the study, the Kentucky Wildcats were found to produce the worst behaved NBA players, with a score of 29.6 out of 30.
Wildcats graduates ranked first for the most fines ($725,000) and ejections (58) in the NBA as well as ranking in fifth for the highest number of games missed through suspension, with 48.
The majority of Kentucky’s poor discipline stems from NBA bad boys DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and Julius Randle, who accounted for $395,000 worth of fines in the past decade, along with 16 ejections.
USC Trojans is second with a score of 29.2 and the largest number of games missed through suspensions at 167. Players such as DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson and O.J. Mayo have also contributed $260,000 in fines and 27 ejections for the Los Angeles-based college.
The study shows that Texas Longhorns, where the likes of Kevin Durant and Tristan Thompson attended, sits in third. $410,000 was paid in fines by NBA players who attended here, as well as 31 games missed due to suspension.
The Kansas Jayhawks ranked in fifth, with an overall score of 28, mainly due to $705,000 worth of fines coupled with 30 ejections.
The NBA’s second-biggest offender attended the University of Kansas, as veteran journeyman power forward Markieff Morris received fines that totaled $275,000. His raucous behavior on the court also saw him given 11 ejections.
Duke, arguably the most popular college side across the world, took sixth position, despite having 24 active players in the league and the third most of all time. They rank fourth for ejected players with 23, which led them to an overall score of 27.6.
Former Blue Devils stars saw a total of $405,000 in fines across the last 10 years, and Kyrie Irving of the Mavericks represented $235,000 of that, with the majority down to fan altercations.
Callum Broxton, Head of Operations at FlashPicks commented on the study: “With March Madness allowing us to see NBA stars of the future, and discipline a hot topic in the league currently, we wanted to look closer at where the worst behaved players attended college.
“Games and even seasons can change through the ill-discipline of players, as shown by the Warriors downturn in results whilst Draymond Green was missing recently, and also the improvement and play-off challenge since his return.
“Our study shows that those who stay level-headed perform better in the latter stages of the tournament. Two of the strongest sides this century, the UConn Huskies and the North Carolina Tar Heels, have seven titles between them since 2004, and both sit outside the top 10.
“We hope to see a great tournament full of magical moments, and hopefully, limited referee involvement.”
Methodology:
Data was taken from March 1st 2014 up to and including February 29th 2024. NBA fines and suspensions were taken from the official NBA website: https://pr.nba.com/category/nba-discipline/. Ejections data was compiled using Spotrac: https://www.spotrac.com/nba/fines-suspensions/fines/ejection/.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
