Most Ruthless Post-Breakup Smack Talk in Sports
There exists an absurd number of instances of post-breakup smack talking in sports.
From Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's open letter to a tell-all book from Tiger Woods' former caddie, it hasn't been pretty.
The following are just 20 instances of ex-teammate, ex-team and ex-coach saltiness. The comments could have been justified...or not—who knows? Either way, these folks didn't pull any punches. They told the world exactly how they felt, consequences be damned.
Who was the most ruthless of all? Philadelphia Flyers executive Bobby Clarke has a good chance, but don't count out good ol' Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, either. Let's get to it.
Honorable Mentions
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A few honorable mentions go to truly ruthless smack talk that wasn't quite post-breakup. In some cases, the following zingers even helped cause the breakups.
"One's a born liar and the other's convicted." Billy Martin on Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner. The former New York Yankees manager clearly didn't see eye-to-eye with the team's big-time free agent or late owner, per Mike Puma of ESPN.com.
"I wouldn't give Charles Barkley an apology at gunpoint. He can never expect an apology from me. If anything, he owes me an apology for coming to play with his sorry fat butt." — NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen on disparaging comments he made about then-Houston Rockets teammate Charles Barkley, per Mike Wise of the New York Times.
"I'm not the one who got tired in the Super Bowl." — Terrell Owens on then-Philadelphia Eagles teammate Donovan McNabb, per Michael Smith of ESPN.com.
Steve Smith on the Carolina Panthers
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"He doesn't even have the cojones to tell us to our face."
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith was released by his longtime team, the Carolina Panthers, in 2014. Based on comments he made later in the year, it's clear Smith did not appreciate how the breakup was handled.
He told WFNZ in Charlotte (via Will Brinson of CBSSports.com), "Every time I keep reading stuff and reports come out, I just think I was stabbed in the back. Just like coach [Ron] Rivera said he wasn't a sore loser, but yet he never even spoke to me through the whole ordeal."
Smith also went after general manager Dave Gettleman, saying, "He doesn't even have the cojones to tell us to our face [about the release]."
Paul Pierce on Brooklyn Teammates
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"They were vets who didn't want to play and didn't want to practice."
Paul Pierce and former Boston Celtics teammate Kevin Garnett played together with the Brooklyn Nets for one season in 2013-14. The team went 44-38 and lost in the second round of the playoffs.
Pierce later signed a two-year deal with the Washington Wizards before ultimately ending up with the Los Angeles Clippers.
While in Washington, Pierce told Jackie MacMullan of ESPN.com:
"It was a tough situation (in Brooklyn) last year. Horrible, really. It was just the guys' attitudes there. It wasn't like we were surrounded by a bunch of young guys. They were vets who didn't want to play and didn't want to practice. I was looking around saying, 'What's this?' Kevin (Garnett) and I had to pick them up every day in practice. If me and Kevin weren't there, that team would have folded up.
"
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Terry Francona on Boston Red Sox Management
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"I don't think they love baseball."
Former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona isn't a ruthless guy, but he did take one of the biggest hits after the team's epic 2011 collapse. He lost his job.
In 2013, Francona came out with a tell-all book, Francona: The Red Sox Years, that was co-written with Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe.
According to Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer, the book isn't wholly disparaging of front-office leadership—specifically owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and CEO Larry Lucchino—but Francona did suggest money was a top priority.
Per Rymer, an excerpt reads, "They come in with all these ideas about baseball, but I don't think they love baseball. I think they like baseball. It's revenue, and I know that's their right and their interest because they're owners ... and they're good owners. But they don't love the game."
Amar'e Stoudemire on (Probably) Carmelo Anthony
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"But everyone wasn't a fan of him being a new star."
Amar'e Stoudemire played with the New York Knicks from 2010-2015. A buyout ended his time there in February 2015, and the big man ended up with the Dallas Mavericks and, later, the Miami Heat.
A year after the buyout, Stoudemire returned to New York as a visitor and made some comments, or perhaps subtle jabs, about his former team.
When asked about Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, Stoudemire said, per Marc Berman of the New York Post, "You have to become a complete player to bring your team out of a rut. And everyone can't do it. It's not always easy."
On the Linsanity craze surrounding former Knicks guard Jeremy Lin that swept New York in 2012, Stoudemire said, "If [Lin] stayed, it would've been cool. But everyone wasn't a fan of him being a new star."
Ooh, subtle burn.
Evan Mathis on Chip Kelly
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"A never-evolving, vanilla offense…"
San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly doesn't always receive glowing reviews from his former players. (See: McCoy, LeSean.)
In November, one of Kelly's former Oregon players said, "He's stubborn, and he's married to his system," per Robert Klemko of the MMQB.
Denver Broncos guard Even Mathis, who played under Kelly with the Philadelphia Eagles, also commented on his former coach in February.
He wrote in an email to 9NEWS, per Mike Klis of KUSA:
"Two of the main issues that concerned me were: 1. A never-evolving, vanilla offense that forced our own defense to play higher than normal play counts. 2. His impatience with certain personality types even when they were blue-chip talents. The Broncos team I was on would have eaten Chip alive. I don't think he could have handled the plethora of large personalities.
"
Phil Jackson on Kobe Bryant
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“Uncoachable."
When it comes to tell-all books, no one is safe.
Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson wrote such a book, The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul, during a one-year hiatus from the team in 2004-05. Apparently, Jackson labeled Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant "uncoachable" in the book.
In 2015, Jackson told author Charley Rosen, writing for ESPN.com, "I'm sure Kobe was pissed when I wrote in The Last Season that he was uncoachable."
Jackson also told Rosen, "I've always seen Kobe as a truly great player, an intelligent guy and a remarkable person." So, this one wasn't too ruthless.
Landon Donovan on Jurgen Klinsmann
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"I don't think we were set up to succeed yesterday."
U.S. men's national soccer team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann famously left American legend Landon Donovan off the 2014 World Cup team, and he might never live it down.
At the time, Donovan said on ESPN (per Filip Bondy of the New York Daily News), "This will come as a surprise to nobody, but I don't agree with Jurgen."
After the team's exit from the round of 16, he said, "I don't think we were set up to succeed yesterday, and that was tough to watch," per Scott French of MLSsoccer.com.
In 2015, aging superstar Abby Wambach was used as a reserve on the women's World Cup team that eventually won a title.
During that tournament, Donovan tweeted, "Love the enthusiasm and veteran presence of @AbbyWambach despite not playing much. That kind of leadership is priceless during a WC."
Jonathan Papelbon on the Philadelphia Phillies
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"I was one of the few that wanted to actually win."
The Philadelphia Phillies traded relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon to the Washington Nationals last July.
The Phillies are certainly, and admittedly, in the midst of a rebuilding period, but Papelbon went so far as to suggest his former team didn't care about winning.
According to Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly, Papelbon said in September, "I don't know if I got a bad rap here or whatever, but I can promise you I was far [from] the bad guy on this team. I was one of the few that wanted to actually win, and I was one of the few that competed and posted up every day."
He continued, "I think the blame goes all the way from the front office all the way down to the bat boy."
Michael Crabtree on Colin Kaepernick
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"I needed a quarterback that can deliver the ball, and that was hungry like I was."
Oakland Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree caught balls from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick for over three years.
Yet, he apparently wasn't happy with the quality of QB play—or the attitude, for that matter.
After Crabtree signed with the Raiders in 2015, he told Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle, "I needed new scenery. It wasn't for me. I needed a quarterback that can deliver the ball, and that was hungry like I was."
Carli Lloyd on the Western New York Flash
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"I have lost all respect for the organization."
Carli Lloyd became an American soccer hero with her 2015 World Cup performance, but her relationship with her former National Women's Soccer League team isn't quite as peachy.
In October 2014, the Western New York Flash traded the midfielder to the Houston Dash. Lloyd apparently wasn't a fan of how the transaction went down. Per Jeff DiVeronica the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York, Lloyd specifically took issue with head coach/general manager Aaran Lines' failure to properly inform her of the deal in advance.
In July 2015, she said, "That's the reason no one wants to go play there. Because if you don't treat people with respect, you're not going to get respect in return and I have lost all respect for the organization."
Kobe Bryant on Shaquille O'Neal
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"It used to drive me crazy that he was so lazy."
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal had one of sports' most public and enduring feuds during their time together with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Though the duo won three championships together, O'Neal ultimately left L.A. via trade in 2004. Even after the big man's departure, the verbal shots kept coming.
As recently as 2014, Bryant offered up some unflattering comments about his former teammate. He told Ben McGrath of the New Yorker, "It used to drive me crazy that he was so lazy. You got to have the responsibility of working every single day. You can't skate through s--t."
For what it's worth, Bryant appeared on The Big Podcast with Shaq in 2015, and it became clear their relationship is far less venomous now.
Honorable mention to Bryant's burn of other former teammates in 2012. Per Scott Gleeson of USA Today, Bryant noted, "I almost won an MVP with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown on my team."
Jim Harbaugh on the San Francisco 49ers
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"You will reap what you sow."
Jim Harbaugh's tenure as the San Francisco 49ers head coach didn't exactly end smoothly. A tumultuous relationship with team management led to a "mutual" parting of ways in December 2014, although Harbaugh later said he was essentially pushed out.
His replacement, Jim Tomsula, lasted just one season and was fired after going 5-11.
Immediately after the announcement of Tomsula's firing, Harbaugh tweeted, "Do not be deceived. You will reap what you sow."
According to Louis Bien of SB Nation, there were also rumors of Tomsula "working behind Harbaugh's back in San Francisco." Hmm.
Jerry Jones on Jimmy Johnson
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"I lost my tolerance of having an associate, a friend, not be loyal."
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former head coach Jimmy Johnson won two straight Super Bowls together in 1992 and 1993. Even so, the two didn't exactly get along, and they broke up officially in 1994.
Don Van Natta Jr. elaborated on their owner-coach relationship with a piece for ESPN The Magazine in 2014. According to Natta, Johnson once said of Jones, "My girlfriend knows more about football." (Rude.) And Jones once said, "Any one of 500 coaches could have won those Super Bowls."
Apparently there wasn't a lot of trust between the two. After the 1994 breakup, Jones said of Johnson, "There was just an undermining that went on. It's subtle. It's smart. ... I lost my tolerance of having an associate, a friend, not be loyal."
Shaquille O'Neal on Kobe Bryant
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"This dude's a clown."
With all the back-and-forth of the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal feud, it only seems fair to throw in one of Shaq's post-Lakers verbal jabs.
Not long after O'Neal's trade to Miami in 2004, word got out Bryant had mentioned O'Neal in the context of his 2003 sexual assault case.
Specifically, Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Bryant claimed to police he should have bought off the woman in Colorado who made the sexual assault charges against him, like he said O'Neal did with women."
O'Neal responded, "This dude's a clown. You're out there [messing] up and you're saying, 'He did it.' He did what? You don't even know me. I promise you we never hung out. ... I don't even know this kid. But I knew he was a weirdo."
Dan Gilbert on LeBron James
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"This shocking act of disloyalty from our homegrown "chosen one" sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn."
When LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010, it was no ordinary free-agent parting. Jerseys were burned, comparisons to notorious Cleveland deserter Art Modell were made—it was ugly.
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert took it worst of all. He published an open letter to Cleveland fans on the team's website, and to say it was scathing would be an understatement.
Per ESPN.com, Gilbert called James' actions a "cowardly betrayal" and wrote, "The self-declared former 'King' will be taking the 'curse' with him down south."
There was more, and it was all brutal.
Of course, James is back in Cleveland, and the letter has been removed from the Cavs website.
Corey Larkins on Derek Dooley
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"Derek Dooley was a loser."
Is Derek Dooley more hated in Tennessee than Lane Kiffin? Maybe not, but a few Volunteer football alumni ripped the former coach a new one in 2014.
Onetime Volunteer running back Corey Larkins said, "Derek Dooley was a loser. He'll always be a loser and he rubbed off on the program and created a losing attitude," per the Chattanooga Times-Free Press (via Creg Stephenson of AL.com). Ouch.
Dooley coached at Tennessee from 2010-2012 (immediately after Kiffin) and posted a 15-21 record. A blogger for Rocky Top Talk, Incipient_Senescence, called the Dooley's hiring one of the "biggest disasters in SEC history."
Russell Westbrook on Reggie Jackson
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"Who?"
Detroit Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson played with Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder for three-plus seasons.
Yet, per Patrick Redford of Deadspin, Jackson's dissatisfaction with his playing time "harmed the Thunder's chemistry" and ultimately led to a trade in 2015.
Months later, Jackson's Pistons visited OKC for the first time since the trade. When asked about his former teammate's return, Westbrook responded, "Who?" per Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman.
Burn.
Shane Warne on Steve Waugh
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"He is the most selfish cricketer I've played with."
Retired Australian cricketers Shane Warne and Steve Waugh played together on the national team for years.
In February, Warne recalled some things he didn't like about the former captain on the television show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!.
Per the Australian Associated Press (via the Guardian), Warne still felt slighted by a time in 1999 when Waugh chose to leave him off the Test team. "I was really disappointed with that after 10 years," he said.
But perhaps the most notable snippet was this: "There's a lot of reasons I don't like Steve Waugh, a lot of reasons, because he is the most selfish cricketer I've played with."
Steve Williams on Tiger Woods
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"Basically you could say I wasted two years of my life."
Tiger Woods parted ways with his longtime caddie, Steve Williams, in 2011.
At the time, Williams told New Zealand TV (via Dashiell Bennett of Business Insider), "I'm a very big stickler for loyalty and I stuck with Tiger through his difficult period when a lot of people thought I should have left his side ... Loyalty didn't mean much to him."
He added, "Basically you could say I wasted two years of my life."
After Woods, Williams went to work for Adam Scott. When Scott won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in 2011, Williams (who stood alongside Woods for many tournament victories) said, "I have won 145 times and that is the best win of my life," per Lawrence Donegan of the Guardian.
Williams later wrote a tell-all book, Out of the Rough, in which he alleged Woods treated him like a "slave" (a word which resulted in harsh criticism toward Williams).
Bobby Clarke on Eric Lindros
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"I don't give a crap whether he ever plays again or if I ever see him again."
One of hockey's most famous feuds involved former Philadelphia Flyers general manager (and current vice president) Bobby Clarke and former center Eric Lindros.
Lindros was an All-Star for the Flyers in the 1990s, but his relationship with Clarke devolved over time. Lindros turned down an $8.5 million offer from the team and sat out the entire 2000-01 season as Clarke refused to trade him. At that point, one could say he and the team were at least "on a break," if not yet in full breakup mode.
During that time, Clarke said, per Tim Panaccio, of the Philadelphia Inquirer, "I don't give a crap whether he ever plays again or if I ever see him again. All he ever did was cause aggravation to our team. If he wants to play, he might have to come back [to the Flyers] if no one else wants him in the NHL."
Clarke eventually caved and sent Lindros to New York.
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