The New Kings of Sports Trash Talk
Kevin Garnett has retired, and just like that, there goes another sports trash-talking legend.
The Big Ticket was one of sports history's greatest instigators. He got into opponents' faces with regularity, tossing verbal haymakers and hitting them where it hurt.
Jesse Washington of The Undefeated wrote: "Jordan is The Greatest, but Kevin Garnett is The Illest. He (allegedly) talked about Tim Duncan's dead moms. He (supposedly) told New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony that his wife, La La, tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios."
Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams claims he pretended not to speak English just to avoid the legendary KG verbal assaults.
Many of sports' all-time great trash-talkers are no longer suiting up. The task at hand today is not to name them all; however, a few GOATS in the trash-talking Hall of Fame include (in no particular order) Garnett, Reggie Miller, Gary Payton, Michael Jordan, John McEnroe, Muhammad Ali and Larry Bird.
Some of these shoes can never be filled. In the NBA anyway, guys just don't seem as ruthless as they once were. And yet, there are active trash-talkers out there. There are athletes carrying the torch, talking smack to and about their opponents (ahem, Josh Norman).
Here are the new kings of sports trash talk—and a few old kings they remind us of.
Yordano Ventura
1 of 10
Compare to: Pedro Martinez
"When you hear the name 'Pedro Martinez' in close proximity to the phrase 'charged the mound,' you're likely to recall a handful of incidents in which the Hall of Fame pitcher was standing on the mound awaiting the arrival of a sprinting batter (or bench coach) after just having plunked someone."
—Mike Bertha of MLB.com
Baseball isn't quite as flush with trash-talkers as other sports, but it's not insult-free, either.
Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura once got into it with Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout for Pete's sake.
Like famed trash-talking pitcher Martinez, the 25-year-old Ventura has a history of conflict. In April 2015, he yelled what appeared to be an NSFW comment at Chicago White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton, inciting a brawl.
Later that season, Ventura went after Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista on Twitter. He wrote, "You need to stop giving signs. You're gonna get it from me for being fresh and you really are a nobody," per Mike Cole of NESN.
In 2016, Ventura was at the center of yet another brawl with the Baltimore Orioles. Outfielder Adam Jones said, per Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com (via the Big Lead): "I knew it was going to happen. The guy has electric stuff but between ears, there is a circuit board off balance."
Richard Sherman
2 of 10
Compare to: Deion Sanders
"Sanders was as flashy as any player in NFL history. He invaded receivers' personal space and let his mouth run."
—Kirby Lee of USA Today
Everyone remembers Richard Sherman's famous NFC Championship Game rant. You know, the one that completely overwhelmed Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews and included such phrases as "I'm the best corner in the game" and "When you try me with a sorry receiver like [Michael] Crabtree that's the result you're going to get," per Will Brinson of CBSSports.com.
The Seattle Seahawks cornerback is generally unafraid to say what's on his mind, whether it's a Twitter beef or an opinion on gun violence.
As far as trash talking, not only does he do it but he brags about it. In 2012, Sherman said of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, per Ryan Divish of the News Tribune: "Every TV timeout, I went up and said it right to (Brady): 'Please keep trying me. I'm going to take it from you.'"
In 2013, he told Skip Bayless on ESPN's First Take, per Chris Chase of USA Today: "I'm intelligent enough and capable enough to understand that you are ignorant, pompous, egotistical, cretin. I'm going to crush you on here because I'm tired of hearing about it."
Cris 'Cyborg' Justino
3 of 10
Compare to: Ronda Rousey
"I turned around to her after I knocked her out and I said, 'Don't cry.'"
—Ronda Rousey on Bethe Correia, per Michael Stets of MMA Mania
OK, technically Ronda Rousey is not retired, but she has been lying low for almost a year. And fellow UFC fighter Cris "Cyborg" Justino has jumped in to take her place as queen bee of UFC trash talking. Fittingly enough, it's Rousey that Cyborg talks trash about the most.
In June, Cyborg said, "I'll kill her. I put everything she said about me in my hands," per TMZ (via Scott Rafferty of Rolling Stone).
In September, Cyborg criticized Rousey's demeanor since her loss, saying, "I just think it's not a good message. When you're a winner, okay, you're happy. When you lose and something happens, it's not a good message for little kids," per TMZ Sports (via Ryan Harkness of Uproxx).
Disclaimer on this one: Rousey's trash talk is the stuff of legends, and should she come back to fight Cyborg (or anyone), she just might come out of trash-talk purgatory as well.
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Jim Harbaugh
4 of 10
Compare to: Buddy Ryan
"Ryan spent the week of the NFC Championship Game worming his way into the psyche of the Los Angeles Rams, a team he felt embodied the softness of its city, a team that played with the sort of the gauzy offensive-minded finesse that had no place in professional football. And so, he trolled."
—Michael Weinreb of Vice Sports
Coaches aren't generally big trash-talkers, but Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is changing all that on Twitter of all places.
Harbaugh has accused the SEC of whining about satellite camps. He's took a shot at Tennessee head coach Butch Jones about off-field issues and trolled Ohio State's athletic director about the school's 2011 tattoo scandal—all via social media.
Harbaugh further attempted to troll Ohio State on The Dan Patrick Show by saying "We refuse to drink the candy-ass skim milk," per Jordan Heck of Sporting News.
And if you can trash-talk with your actions, Harbaugh has done that, too. In 2009 while coaching the Stanford Cardinal, he famously went for two late in the game, up 55-21, against Pete Carroll's USC Trojans.
Honorable mention goes to Ryan's son, Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan, who is also a noted trash-talker.
Josh Norman
5 of 10
Compare to: Shannon Sharpe
"The thing that I found worked best was when you questioned a guy's ability. And when you told a guy he was stealing and he didn't deserve what they were paying him. That really, really bothered a guy."
—Shannon Sharpe, per Jim Corbett of USA Today
Washington cornerback Josh Norman's ongoing feud with New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is the most obvious evidence (Norman famously called Beckham "OK" during an ESPN appearance) of his trash-talking ways, but not to worry, there's more.
Ahead of Super Bowl 50, Nick Groke of the Denver Post wrote, "Norman, the Carolina Panthers' All-Pro cornerback, might be football's best trash-talker since Shannon Sharpe."
And it's not just OBJ. Norman told ESPN.com's Kevin Van Valkenburg that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is "straight horrible" and said of Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, "He was supposed to be an all-world guy, and I shut him down."
Per Groke, Norman once said: "It's mental warfare out there, brother. We're not out there picking daises."
Draymond Green
6 of 10
Compare to: Charles Barkley
"I've always thought if you can't play, shut the hell up."
—Charles Barkley, per Fox Sports
In January, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors was voted the NBA's top trash-talker, according to an anonymous poll of 24 coaches, assistants and players.
Per Turner, one assistant coach said: "He's an intelligent trash-talker. He doesn't just say random, dumb things. And it works. To me, the effective trash-talkers are the ones who can talk people out of their game and Draymond does it all the time."
Like Barkley, Green does not apologize for trash talking or shy away from would-be-intimidating opponents (think, Barkley and Michael Jordan). Not many people are immune from Green's verbal jawing, despite his relatively young age (26). He even got into a gnarly spat with Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James during the NBA Finals.
The only guy Green wouldn't trash-talk was recently retired San Antonio Spurs great Tim Duncan. Apparently, he tried to once, and Duncan simply stared at him (#likeaboss).
Brad Marchand
7 of 10
Compare to: Chris Pronger
"To paraphrase a classic line from the movie Office Space, it's not that Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger is a malevolent jerk—it's that he just doesn't care. Part of Pronger's makeup as a leader is being the agitator-in-chief for his team."
—Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports
Boston Bruins left winger Brad Marchand has a reputation for being a dirty player—always involved in scrums, getting chirpy, that sort of thing. Mark Scheig of the Hockey Writers wrote, "General consensus is that he's good at trash talking, diving and giving cheap shots. All of this is true."
In 2015, Marchand talked about a perceived flop on the part of New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. He said, "I mean he's out of the crease and lightly gets touched and it looks like he got shot out there," per Mike Johnston of Sportsnet.
During the 2011 Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks, per Jonathan Hayward of the Associated Press (via USA Today), Marchand said, "I'm just trying to do what gets me into the game, and if people think I'm being a pest, people think I'm being a pest."
Paul Pierce
8 of 10
Compare to: Kobe Bryant
"Pierce's reason why next generation of players don't trash talk like he and Kobe: 'Computers. They play NBA2K instead of going to the park.'"
—Tweet from Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News
Paul Pierce is retiring after the 2016-17 season, but he still deserves a spot on this list. Like the recently retired Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Clippers forward is part of the old guard of NBA trash-talkers who are on their way out.
Like Bryant, Pierce likes to downplay his opponents' abilities at every opportunity. According to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, one anonymous player said: "When [Pierce] was in Boston and it was my rookie year, he walked over to me while I was stretching before the game and was like, 'You're about to get this work done on you, young fella,' I'm thinking, 'Yo, the game hasn't even started yet.'"
Turner also reported account of a story about Pierce referencing an opponent's contract extension while he was on the free-throw line. He's just in tune like that.
Pierce's former Boston Celtics teammate Brian Scalabrine, aka the White Mamba, called Pierce the "greatest trash-talker" and also said, "It's one thing to say something outrageous or offensive to throw someone off, but I would hear Paul just cut through guys with his words," according to Darren Hartwell of NESN.
Steve Smith Sr.
9 of 10
Compare to: Keyshawn Johnson
"What happened is guys would say, 'You're sorry. You can't play.' I was like, 'What are you talking about? What are you watching? Because you know and I know, you had to game-plan for me."
—Keyshawn Johnson, per Jim Corbett of USA Today
Steve Smith Sr. once told Brent Harris of CSN Baltimore (via Russell Street Report), "Man, I came out of the womb trash talking."
The 37-year-old Baltimore Ravens wide receiver is another member of sports' trash-talking old guard. He's been at it a long time—talking up himself and putting down his opponents, that is.
In 2005, Smith said of former NFL cornerback Fred Smoot, "Whatchamacallit was talking to me in the pregame. When somebody is banging on your door, I am not going to hide in the corner...I am going to open it," per the Tampa Bay Times.
In 2013, he said of then-New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez on WFNZ radio (via Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk): "He sucks. I wouldn't let Mark Sanchez throw me a paper-bag sandwich."
Conor McGregor
10 of 10
Compare to: Mike Tyson
"When I fight someone, I want to break his will. I want to take his manhood. I want to rip out his heart and show it to him."
—Mike Tyson, per Nate Scott of For the Win
Mike Tyson was one of those guys who would say anything about his opponents—shocking, horrifying, mean, inappropriate, you name it. UFC fighter Conor McGregor is a bit like that. You never know what he's going to say, and you can't rule anything out.
For example, McGregor's UFC 196 press conference was the stuff of legend (although he went on to lose). On his opponent Nate Diaz, McGregor said, per Steven Ruiz of For the Win: "He gets out of shape. His fight against [Rafael] Dos Anjos, he was the skinniest fat guy I've ever seen in my life."
On his knockout of Jose Aldo, McGregor said, per Scott Chiusano of the New York Daily News: "I bounced Jose's head off the canvas like a basketball. He needs to take a year to a year-and-a-half off. And that's just for his health."
And that's tame compared to some of his other notable quotes.
McGregor doesn't reserve his skills just for his opponents, either. In August, he lashed out at WWE wrestlers in general and called John Cena "a big, fat, 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympia motherf--ker, per Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone.
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