For all those Mavericks fans who have pined for some player in Dallas blue to, um, "step up" and take the fight straight at New Orleans ... we have your man. In a radio interview documented by writer Jeff Kaplan for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's blog (via HoopsHype), Jerry Stackhouse hands out some vicious words on Hornets coach Byron Scott.

"I don't think Byron Scott is the best coach or I don't think he's the best guy to deal with -- you know what I'm sayin? -- from some things that I've heard from other players and just some dealings that I had with him earlier in the season. I was about ready to kick his ass -- you know what I'm sayin? He was sitting on the sideline and we just got into a little conversation or something and he was going to tell me, you know, 'Talk to me when you get a ring.' I was like, I told that fool, 'If I played with Magic and Worthy and Kareem I'd have a ring, too. So, you know, he's a sucker in my book, but that's a whole other story."

Saying Scott has a reputation as a hard-ass is one thing; talking about kicking his ass? Calling him a sucker? And come on: Scott was a starter on three title teams in the '80s. He isn't exactly Antoine Walker 2006 or ~~Ira Newble/Brian Scalabrine 2008~~ Melvin Ely 2007.

But hey, whatever gets Stack fired up, right? 18 points in 53 playoff minutes on 31% shooting is boring, man. I'm just glad the league's at a place in which the Byron-Jason Kidd feud in New Jersey circa 2003 could spill into a Western Conference playoff battle in 2008.

NBA's Memorable Fights and Feuds

See the most memorable brawls and feuds in NBA history

Bad Blood in NBA History

Mavericks player Jerry Stackhouse pours fuel on a fiery rivalry between Dallas and New Orleans when he tears into Hornets coach Byron Scott, right, and calls him a "sucker." The scuffle between Stackhouse and Scott is just the latest in a long line of memorable NBA feuds.

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One of the most infamous incidents in NBA history took place in 2004, when Ron Artest, right, was suspended 73 games for starting the "Malice in the Palace" brawl during the Pacers' game in Detroit.

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NBA coach P.J. Carlesimo, right, had a rocky stint with the Warriors in the late 1990s, highlighted by a notorious attack by Latrell Sprewell, left, during a 1997 practice. Sprewell choked Carlesimo for nearly 15 seconds until being pulled off by several teammates.

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Ten players were ejected in a December 2006 fight between Denver and New York when the Knicks took exception to what they felt was the Nuggets running up the score.

Frank Franklin II, AP

Back in 2002, Shaquille O'Neal, then with the Lakers, tried to go after Brad Miller, right, but couldn't connect with a punch. The players received
three-game suspensions for their scrap.

Fred Jewell, AP

The Suns and Spurs have been the NBA's most bitter rivals over the last couple of years. Suns star Amare Stoudemire, right, took the rivalry to a new level when he called the Spurs dirty and said he might want Bruce Bowen's home address.

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Former players Tyrone Hill, left, and Charles Oakley banged under the boards plenty of times. But their matchup took a personal twist when Oakley ran up to Hill during pre-game warmups in 2001 and whacked him from behind over a reported gambling debt.

Tom Mihalek, AFP/Getty Images

The Knicks' 1994 playoff run was marked with a bench-clearing brawl, as New York's Derek Harper struck Chicago's JoJo English during their heated second-round playoff series.

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NBA greats Charles Barkley, right, and Bill Laimbeer were each fined $20,000 for their roles in a fight during a 1990 playoff game, which was a record for the NBA at the time.

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Two mild-mannered greats got into an altercation in 1984, as Julius Erving and Larry Bird exchanged words and shoved each other during a November contest, and were fined $7,500 each.

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