10 Ways to Do Someone Dirty in Sports

Former Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was fired in May, and guess how he found out about it? Through an email confirming his flight home.

There are plenty of shady dealings in sports—from trade demands to subtweets and broken promises. Players, coaches, front office personnel and even fans have been guilty at one time or another. Sometimes it's all in good fun, but other times, serious consequences result. 

Keep in mind, sports teams are businesses in their own right, and athletes are employees making a living. When St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jason Heyward signed with the rival Chicago Cubs in free agency, he didn't do the Cards dirty (despite what some fans thought). He simply made a decision for himself and his career.

Sometimes what makes an act dirty is not the act itself but rather the manner in which it is dealt. A player is disrespectful to his organization, for example, or an athlete embarrasses a defender with a wicked juke. 

These are 10 ways to do someone dirty in sports—from lighthearted banter to cold-blooded ruthlessness.

Honorable Mention: Fire Him Despite Success

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This one gets an honorable mention because sports organizations certainly have the right to do what they deem appropriate in terms of personnel and operations.   

And yet, even if firing a coach with a winning record is a savvy business decision in the minds of the powers that be, it can still read extremely shady.

Take David Blatt, for instance. At the time of his forced departure, his Cleveland Cavaliers were fresh off a Finals berth and off to an Eastern Conference-best 30-11 record.  

The Houston Rockets fired coach Kevin McHale just 11 games into the 2015-16 season after he led them to an appearance in the Western Conference Finals just six months earlier.

Yes, it was business, but it felt wrong to leave these examples out entirely.

Throw Shade on TV

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It's possible to do someone dirty in a fun way, right? For instance, former NBA stars Robert Horry and Tracy McGrady appeared on ESPN's The Jump in April, and seven-time champion Horry owned McGrady over his lack of a title.

McGrady asked Horry if he could have one of his rings, and Horry replied (via Bleacher Report's Thomas Duffy): "Nah, dog. You got to earn it. It wouldn't be right if I just gave it to you, right? You did a lot of great things in the NBA, but you know."

Burn. 

It was sort of like that time Shaquille O'Neal shaded his Inside the NBA coworker Charles Barkley about Barkley's appearance in Space Jam by comparing it to his own acting chops. Per Charles Curtis of For the Win, Shaq said: "And I thought Kazaam was bad. Oh, that was terrible. Oh, wow! Whoa. That's worse than Kazaam."

To shade someone on television is to do him dirty, but it's also great when folks can laugh at themselves.

Embarrass a Peer on the Field of Play

Alright, this is an example of an acceptable form of doing someone dirty.

But really, how else can you describe the sick move Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry threw on Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals?

Dude did him dirty.

The same can be said for this fake penalty kick from FC Barcelona, this absolutely disrespectful stiff arm from Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald or this vintage LeBron James block.

It's OK, because it's the job of these players to defeat their opponents, but these moves are still dirty.

Give Him the Snub Treatment

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The concept of a snub in sports is entirely subjective, of course, but sometimes there are more compelling cases than others.

For instance, the 2016 NBA All-Star team was noticeably without Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo.

Lillard was averaging a career-high 24.3 points and 7.1 assists per game at the time, and on Rondo, Bryan Kalbrosky of Fox Sports wrote: "How do you lead the league with a career-high 11.8 assists per game (his career average is 8.6 per game) and get no traction for an All-Star campaign?"

Elsewhere in sports snubs, two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker was left off the U.S. Olympic roster, and the Toronto Raptors were listed as "Other" in a recent CBS fan poll that presented the other three members of the NBA's final four teams by name.

Renege

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The term "renege" is vague, but in certain circumstances, the act can read extremely disrespectful. Here, the manner in which a situation is handled means everything.

For instance, in March, Chris Beard signed on to become the new head basketball coach at UNLV. Less than a month later, he backed out to take the job at Texas Tech.

UNLV athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said in a statement (via Eric Goldwein of the Washington Post): "This unprecedented move is extremely disappointing to the president and I, for our program and to our fans."

It was reminiscent of the time football coach Lane Kiffin bolted from Tennessee after only 14 months or, to a lesser degree, NBA center DeAndre Jordan going back on his verbal commitment to join the Dallas Mavericks in free agency.

In each case, the individual in question needed to make the decision right for him, understandably. Still, that doesn't mean he didn't do someone dirty in the process.

Boo Your Own Players

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This one is the subject of some debate—see this (partially NSFW) Reddit thread on the subject of booing one's own player.

Los Angeles Lakers fans booing D'Angelo Russell for breaking the bro code is one thing, but what about performance? One could argue a slump is not a boo-able offense. 

Detroit Red Wings fans booed their own players during a 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in March. Sure, 7-2 is bad, but losses happen. Does it really help hear boos from the home fans? No one is perfect, after all. 

And after a mostly brilliant 2015 postseason performance (3.04 ERA), New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey has struggled in 2016, posting a 5.77 ERA through his first nine starts. In May, Harvey gave up seven runs in one inning against the Washington Nationals, and his own fans booed him off Citi Field.  

Even Nationals superstar Bryce Harper said he felt bad for the guy, per Kenny Ducey of Sports Illustrated.

Let Technology Do Your Dirty Work

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The Atlanta Braves fired manager Fredi Gonzalez in May, and while it doesn't appear they meant to do him so dirty with the method, that's how it went down.

David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explained:

"

The Braves had made the decision to fire him and booked his commercial flight home Tuesday, but didn't plan to tell him he'd been fired until Tuesday morning, after president of baseball operations John Hart flew to Pittsburgh to join general manager John Coppolella.

Later Monday night after getting the email, Gonzalez eventually had confirmed by Braves top officials what he already was certain about by then: He was fired.

"

Oops.

It wasn't the first time something like that has happened in sports. Former ESPN personality Bill Simmons reportedly discovered the network would not renew his contract via Twitter, and former Denver Nuggets guard Randy Foye learned he had been traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder through the NBA app.

Play the Blame Game

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Losing is never fun, but publicly pointing the finger at a teammate or coach is just cold.

After a loss to Atletico Madrid in February, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo called out his teammates by name.

Per Kevin McCauley of SB Nation, he said: "I don't want to disparage anyone, any partner, but when they're not the best ... I like playing with Karim, Bale, Marcelo, but when they don't play it's difficult. I don't mean that Jese, Lucas and Kovacic are not good, but if everyone was at my level, maybe we'd be leaders."

Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant famously called his Los Angeles Lakers teammates "soft like Charmin" in 2014.

And while intent is not confirmed, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James certainly appeared to indirectly call out teammate Kyrie Irving via subtweet in March. 

Perhaps that brand of motivation works in some cases, but from the outside looking in, it just seems rude.

Demand a Trade

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This one is admittedly a little murky. It's not always shady to demand a trade, but handled the wrong way, the practice can alienate a fan base and teammates.

For instance, NBA big man Dwight Howard made it blatantly clear he wanted out of Orlando in 2011 and 2012. At one point, he apparently told teammates he was going to be traded to the Brooklyn Nets (he wasn't).

In January, former Orlando Magic guard J.J. Reddick told Adrian Wojnarowski on the Vertical podcast (via Yaron Weitzman of SB Nation):

"

I can remember being in the shower after practice, one of the first practices of the season, and him saying 'I love you guys, I'm headed to Brooklyn, trade is going down later tonight.' And I'm on Twitter, I'm on HoopsHype, you know for 24 hours, like 'When this is going down?' It didn't go down, and I think for the rest of the season there was an underlying resentment because of that.

"

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony insisted upon leaving the Denver Nuggets in 2011, and he heard boos from his former home crowd two years later when he returned as a member of the away team.

Guys like Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford—who demanded a trade when his team selected QB Carson Wentz in the 2016 NFL draft and later rescinded it—should take note. Roger Groves of Forbes wrote: "When you make a trade demand a lot can happen, most of it is bad."

Air out Someone's Personal Business

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To air out an individual's personal business is to do them dirty. And since many sports figures are under a brighter media spotlight than the average Joe, it's even more egregious to defy them of privacy in matters that should universally be kept quiet.

For instance, ESPN's Adam Schefter revealed a portion of New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul's medical records on Twitter (and he's getting sued for it). 

Someone who presumably has a grudge against offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil hacked into his Twitter account on NFL draft day just to post an incriminating photo.

Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell angered a nation of bros when he allegedly released a recording of his teammate, Nick Young, talking about cheating on his fiance.  

While celebrity sports stars can't expect complete privacy any more than their Hollywood counterparts, revealing personal business unnecessarily crosses the line.

Get a City to Fund Your Stadium, Then Bail

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It's always painful when a beloved sports team moves out of its city, but then again, that is the business of sports.

What is truly dirty is what Stan Kroenke did to the city of St. Louis. In 1995, the city opened a new, publicly funded stadium to help lure the Rams from Los Angeles—and it worked.

Two decades later, Kroenke moved his Rams back to Los Angeles, leaving St. Louis taxpayers with $144 million in remaining debt and maintenance costs related to the stadium.

Fans were not pleased. One St. Louis attorney/hero took out a local Super Bowl ad for the sole purpose of calling out Kroenke. 

Also shady is promising you're not going to move a team and then moving it anyway, ahem, Clay Bennett.