Feel the Game | Players NBA fans love to hate

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Bobby Motus
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Thursday, April 6, 2017
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THE MAJORITY of professional athletes are decent and reasonable people.  They train and play to improve their games, become good and responsible teammates and help their team win.  They are gracious to their fans and appreciative of their support.

But some are derived from different species and do otherwise.  They can’t get along with team officials, enter games with the sole intent of irritating both teammates and opponents, antagonize the crowd and become jerks in and out of the playing fields.

The NBA has an abundance of these characters.  They have the talent but along comes queerness even they cannot satisfactorily explain.  Some choke coaches and say their salaries can’t feed a family.  Some rush into stands and fight with fans.  Some spit on children or kick cameramen.  Some whine and writhe on the court at the slightest nudge.   Some insist on more money not in direct proportion to their talents, some demand trades.  Some get in trouble with the law.

These actions give fans, fellow players, coaches and team staff reasons to dislike the guy concerned.  Starting from the rough and tough 80s, here are some of the well-known players with a love-hate relationship with their surroundings.

CHARLES BARKLEY – The Round Mound of Rebound was a physical player in a really physical era that it was common seeing Barkley pick a fight with guys bigger than him (Bill Laimbeer, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Oakley).   He said he was arrested more than 5 times for punching a fan and said “every single one of them deserved it”.

Barkley was the only player on the 1992 Dream Team who was booed because he elbowed an Angolan player.  His notoriety got bigger when on a Nike commercial he said, “I’m not a role model”.  He wore out his welcome in Philadelphia when he tried to spit on a heckler but hit a young girl instead, to whom he later apologized and befriended.

KEVIN MCHALE – He could be having those choir-boy looks but his road to infamy started when he clotheslined Kurt Rambis on a fastbreak in a 1984 NBA Finals.  Then Laker coach Pat Riley said the play was the “most insidious, vicious and malicious” ever seen in basketball.  Curiously, most of McHale’s hostile behavior is directed towards the Lakers and the Pistons.

BILL LAIMBEER – Probably the most hated player of the league’s physical era.  Detroit’s Bad Boys were disliked but Laimbeer stood out as the most hated.  Depending on which side of the fence you’re in, you’ll either be amused or incensed when he makes a protest every time a whistle was called against him, often after sending someone to the floor with a hard whack or bump.

The bad boy label has forever stuck with him despite being a 4-time All Star and had for seven straight seasons averaged a double-double.  He said the NBA is soft today and “if you have bad breath and breathe on someone, it’s probably a Flagrant 1”.

DENNIS RODMAN – He was a member of the Bad Boys era of the Pistons but his queerness became refined when he came to San Antonio.  He had body piercings and dyed his hair as often as he gets a technical.  He wore a wedding dress so he could marry himself.   Not getting along with teammates, coaches and then team manager Greg Popovich, he was shipped to Chicago after two seasons.

His transgressions with the Bulls were tolerated as he was instrumental in helping the team win three championships.  He was fined a total of $1million and suspended 11 games for kicking a cameraman during a game.  His publicized friendship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un further fanned the dislike.

LATRELL SPREWELL – He already had a history with questioning authority and once brought a two-by-four to a fight with a teammate.  He choked and threatened to kill coach PJ Carlesimo during practice and was suspended for a year by Golden State and had his contract voided.  His playing career was revived in New York and Minnesota but ended when he turned down a three-year, $21million contract extension from the Wolves saying, “I have my family to feed”.  NBA teams then decided they didn’t want to feed Spree’s family.

KOBE BRYANT – A reporter once said something like: Everyone wanted to punch Kobe in the face except his teammates.  But because he’s so aloof and so demanding, some of his teammates probably also entertained the idea.  The Kobe-Shaq tandem could have brought the Lakers more league titles but it had an early demise and KB was largely responsible for it.  The ensuing feud between the two divided LA’s fan base.  There was the sexual scandal and Phil Jackson’s departure.  KB then demanded for a trade which management chose to ignore and they got him Pau Gasol where the pairing gave the Lakers their last two titles.   

LEBRON JAMES – It cannot be denied that LBJ is a multi-dimensional talent but his Decision and the one-hour special detailing his dumping of Cleveland for Miami earned him the ire of fans.  There was a Decision, Part 2 where he brought his talents back to Cleveland and the most natural reaction from Heat fans was to have a bonfire with his jersey as kindling.  At 6-8 and with a well-sculpted 250-plus pound body, LBJ has gained a reputation as the league’s biggest cry-baby and one the best floppers around.

TRIVIA – Bob Brannum was the first known basketball bad boy.  He only played five seasons (1949-1955) for coach Red Auerbach and the Boston Celtics but he pioneered the enforcer role.  His instruction from Auerbach was not to get intimidated on the court.  In turn, Brannum would give something to the opposing player, especially if that guy’s harassing Bob Cousy./PN

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