We're talking trash...

One of the things I do every day is not only check out what's making big news, but I also look for interesting pieces, articles, etc.

I came across a poll that was very interesting. SI.com recently conducted a poll of about 173 NBA players and asked them this. Who's the biggest trash talker in the league? Some answers won't be too hard to figure out, but a couple did raise an eyebrow. And some were very deserved. I'm not huge on trash talk, but these guys obviously are.

The top trash talker didn't really surprise me. It was the amount of top votes he "garnered". That was a bit of a hint. It's none other than Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics. Garnett for all his talking received, get this, an astounding 62%! Sure, the Big Ticket can get a bit animated on the court, but there's obviously more to it than what we see. I guess going from Minnesota to Boston forced KG out of his shell.

Second place goes to the always charming Kobe Bryant. Kobe does have the hardware to backup his mouth, though. Four rings, an MVP and 11 All-Star nods earns you that right, if you view it that way. But with KG dominating the vote, Bryant only received 7%, and still managed the #2 slot.

Third goes to a Celtic teammate of Garnett's, Rasheed Wallace. This may be looked at as spillover of his days in Detroit, but Wallace deserves every right to make this "elite" list. Watch a Celtics game. You'll quickly see what I mean. And I'm not even referring to his interaction with the refs. He does it to opponents, too. I don't think his jaw ever stops moving.

Number 4 caught me a bit offguard. It's yet another Celtic, Paul Pierce. Three of the top for are from Boston. I hate to see what happens in a game of fish with these guys. I know Pierce can talk, but I didn't realize he talked this much. Apparently, the rest of the league has noticed this a lot more. Maybe it's because when I watch the Celtics, Garnett and Wallace chatter so much that my attention rarely goes to Pierce and his chatter.

The littlest man on this list resides fifth and in New York. It's the Slam Dunk champ, Nate Robinson. Nate's got a past resume' of outbursts and that's the most likely reason he's on here. A run-in with Chris Paul and the most dubious of trash takling, while on the Knicks bench, Robinson gets in Amar'e Stoudamire's face? Nate's 5'9". Amar'e goes 6'10". I'm just saying.

The player in sixth doesn't surprise me at all. It's Kenyon Martin of the Denver Nuggets. We all know of his spat with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Living in southwest Ohio, I remember when Martin played at the University of Cincinnati and saw it in his college career. He's always talking. In fact, I don't think he's stopped. I actually thought Martin would be a bit higher.

Seventh goes to Gilbert Arenas. I'll not get into this one. It's too easy to say other things not related.

I was shocked at number 8. Not because of who it was, but I thought this guy was top three for sure. It's Ron Artest of the LA Lakers. Only 8th? Is this voting somehow rigged? Does being on the west coast give this guy a pass of sorts? The thing with Artest is he does it off the court as much as he does it on the court. Plus, he didn't get but about 2% of the vote. I'm wondering about some hanging chads here.

Ninth was the biggest shcocker to me. Another Celtic, no less. Guard Rajon Rondo grabs #9. If you had told me there would be four Celtics on this survey , I wouldn't have believed it. Garnett, Wallace and Pierce, to an extent, I figured out, but Rondo? I guess you could take my surpise of Pierce at #4 and replace "Pierce" and "#4" with "Rondo" and "#9". I've seen him jawing, but I never thought it was aimed at Celtic opponents.

I've already mentioned #10. Amar'e Stoudemire takes the last spot in the top ten. No one has ever doubted his skills on the court, but you also have to include is "content". It makes sense that Amar'e and Nate Robinson got in a trash talk affair. When you're that talented, you can tend to go a bit overboard, but Stoudemire can backup his talk.

Was there someone that you thought would be on this list and wasn't? Do you think there's someone on this list that shouldn't be included? Drop a comment and let me know!