LeBron James vs. Erik Spoelstra and the 20 Worst Player-Coach Feuds
LeBron James does not see eye-to-eye with current Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. The coach and player have been engaging in a (sometimes) silent battle for control of the team in recent weeks.
Sure, they're playing nice in the media right now, but the fact is, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that we're dealing with a good, old-fashioned player-coach feud.
You've seen plenty of these over the years. A player hates his or her coach, or a coach is frustrated with a player's performance. They say something to the media and, suddenly, we've got a public war of words going.
Where does LeBron vs. Erik Spoelstra rank on the all-time list of feuds? Can it even crack the top 15? Read on and find out!
20. LeBron James Vs. Erik Spoelstra
1 of 20What happens when you take a young coach firmly entrenched in a slow-down, low-octane offensive system revolving around pick-and-rolls, who refuses to compromise the system and pair him with three star-calber players who just want to run-and-gun and have fun?
A feud, that's what. With the Miami Heat's 9-8 start has come a conflict between LeBron James, the most talented member of Miami's talented troika, and head coach Erik Spoelstra. There haven't been public words yet, but I'd be willing to bet that things are pretty testy in the Heat locker room right now.
19. Jon Gruden Vs. Keyshawn Johnson
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Former NFL wideout Keyshawn Johnson was always a bit of a diva. He always wanted to be treated like a star, even if he wasn't playing like one, and when he wasn't getting what he wanted, he'd pout and refuse to run routes.
In 2003, Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden had had his fill, and the head coach benched the disgruntled wideout for the remainder of the season, with the team at 4-6.
Johnson promptly went to the press, telling the sob story about how Gruden hated him, and how he didn't know why he was being benched, even though the reason had been given by Gruden at the time. Keyshawn requested a trade from the team in the 2004 season, and was released after the season was over.
Gruden didn't like Johnson's work ethic, Johnson felt he deserved the ball regardless. All in all it was a tumultuous three seasons in Tampa Bay.
18. Mike Leach Vs. Adam James
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James and Leach began their feud in December of 2009. James was the son of ESPN analyst Craig James. Leach was his coach at Texas Tech. The young wideout suffered a concussion and, during a practice after the injury, was ordered by Leach to stand in a darkened equipment shed near the practice field.
James, for whatever reason, was allowed to take his cell phone into the shed and filmed his surroundings, sending the tape on to the proper channels. When news of the events got out, Leach was suspended. He was given until December 28, 2009 to apologize to James in writing.
Leach declined, claiming he hadn't done anything wrong. So, when the school fired him shortly thereafter, the coach filed suit against the school, claiming the firing was not because of the incident and was based entirely on the hostility over contract negotiations.
Leach turned against James in the press, claiming the player had simply been taken "out of the light", and that most of the issue stemmed from the young man not receiving enough playing time. He called James lazy and entitled.
In short, one coach made a dumb decision followed by a series of angry dumb decisions after that, including attacking a player whose father is a prominent ESPN analyst.
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17. Larry Brown Vs. Allen Iverson
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Allen Iverson has always been a bit of a free spirit. So when it comes to things like going to practice or working hard when you do come to practice, Iverson is understandably averse to those things.
Brown, on the other hand, while also a bit of a diva coach, extolled the virtues of practice like they were going out of style.
Naturally, the pair had a tumultuous, if productive, relationship during their time together in Philadelphia. The peak of the turmoil came during Iverson's famous "Practice" monologue, which is widely available across the Internet.
16. Jeff Fisher Vs. Vince Young
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Longtime Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher is far from a disciplinarian. He holds his players responsible for their actions but trusts them to make the right calls on their own.
At least that was the case until Vince Young came along. The supremely-talented quarterback was content not to study film or do much of anything to be the responsible team leader Fisher wanted him to be.
Things came to a head this season, when Fisher pulled Young from a game with an injury, and wouldn't let the passer back in the game, despite his pleas to be allowed back onto the field. After the game, a disgruntled Young tossed his shoulder pads and jersey into the stands in anger.
During the coach's post-game speech to the team, Young could be heard muttering to himself. When Fisher asked him to be quiet, the quarterback stood up and left the locker room.
When Fisher told him not to run out on the team, Young replied simply: "I'm not running out on the team, I'm running out on you." .
Since then, Young has been banned from the Titans' practice facility, although all parties say the quarterback will remain with the team.
15. Barry Bonds Vs. Jim Leyland
6 of 20I don't think this one needs any more explanation. Suffice it to say that Leyland stuck around until 1996, Bonds for another season after this, and those were about as rocky as this clip makes it look.
14. Patrick Roy Vs. Mario Tremblay
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Roy and Tremblay had a checkered player-coach relationship over the years, but Tremblay's best known for single-handedly chasing Roy out of Montreal.
Rewind to December 2, 1995. The Canadiens are taking on the Detroit Red Wings.
Roy gives up nine goals, a career high for him, before Tremblay pulls him from the net. Furious and convinced that his coach had left him in the game to humiliate him, Roy promptly demanded a trade. He said he wouldn't play for Tremblay anymore and wanted out of Montreal.
The Habs shipped Roy and captain Mike Keane to the Aves for three players who failed to generate anywhere near the impact Roy had on the league.
Whether Tremblay had left the goalie in the game on purpose or not, the damage was done and the city of Montreal, once a hockey mecca, hasn't won a Stanley Cup or had a Hall of Fame-caliber goaltender, since.
13. Phil Jackson Vs. Scottie Pippen
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When you have one of the NBA's greatest players of all time, it's a good idea not to piss him off.
But that's precisely what Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson did to Scottie Pippen in the 1994 Eastern Conference semis.
Pippen had been doing yeoman's work to keep the Bulls strong in Jordan's stead, but trailing 103-102 in Game 3 of the series against the Knicks, Jackson drew up the final shot for Toni Kukoc, a pet project of general manager Jerry Krause.
Livid, Pippen refused to re-enter the game, and while the Bulls won the game, the damage was done. Pippen never fully forgave Jackson for the slight during his playing days, although the pair did seem to put it behind them after Pippen retired. Still, this was one of the worst silent feuds ever.
12. Randy Moss Vs. Brad Childress
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This was a match made in hell from day one. Childress, the authoritarian head coach who hated players (especially wide receivers) speaking out about the team's play-calling, paired with Moss, who says what he wants and doesn't care what you think.
After the Patriots waxed the Vikings in Week 8 of this season, Moss went on a rambling tirade lauding Patriots head coach Bill Belichick while simultaneously lambasting his new coach in Minnesota.
Rather than engaging in a war of words, Childress cut the wideout, much to the chagrin of owner Zygi Wilf.
Moss got the last laugh, though, latching on in Tennessee and watching Childress get the axe up north.
11. Billy Martin Vs. Reggie Jackson
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Ah, yes. Martin, the flammable Yankee manager, and Jackson, the occasionally lolly-gagging slugger. What's not to love?
Most notable in this pair's tempestuous relationship was their televised fight during a 1977 game against the Boston Red Sox.
Martin gets on Jackson's case for not hustling, Jackson basically tells him to lay off, and the two get into it for what must have been the thousandth time.
10. Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant, Part 1
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What happens when you take a highly-philosophical coach and mix him with a highly-motivated player with a chip on his shoulder? You get the odd couple that was Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant during their first trip together.
In his autobiography, Jackson lays into Bryant, essentially saying he was the reason the coach retired from basketball.
While the pair seem to have come to terms (Jackson is Kobe's coach in L.A. again), words like those aren't soon forgotten.
9. Alex Rodriguez Vs. Joe Torre
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Let's put it this way: When a manager calls you "A-Fraud" and says you aren't a true member of the team he's managing, you guys are fighting.
No matter what A-Rod said after the comments were revealed in Torre's book, it's clear there was bad blood between the two during Torre's time with the Yankees. Were Rodriguez's diva antics to blame for Torre heading out of New York when he did? Hard to say. But it's clear that apparently no one in baseball likes Alex Rodriguez.
8. Troy Aikman Vs. Barry Switzer
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These two did not get along. Ever. From Aikman's days at Oklahoma, the gunslinger disagreed with Switzer's offensive play-calling, and had little respect for him as a coach. Switzer drove Aikman crazy enough in college that the quarterback transferred to UCLA.
When Jerry Jones pegged Switzer as his replacement for Jimmy Johnson, the coach and quarterback somehow managed to maintain a semi-non-hostile relationship for the duration of the coach's tenure in Dallas. They weren't friends, but they weren't trying to kill each other, either.
7. Magic Johnson Vs. Paul Westhead
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This one gets overblown on occasion, but it doesn't change the fact that, in 1982, Magic was the only player to publicly speak out against then-Lakers coach Paul Westhead's drab, unimaginative playcalling.
Westhead rubbed pretty much everyone in the Laker organization the wrong way, but Johnson was the best known because he talked about it.
Further proof that it's a good idea to keep your mouth shut if you don't like your coach, lest his firing be blamed on you.
6. John Elway Vs. Dan Reeves
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Reeves and Elway never quite saw eye-to-eye on things. They clashed constantly during their tenure in Denver together: the golden-boy quarterback, who was the face of the franchise and the head coach, who saw himself as the oil that made the parts turn.
Things got bad enough at one point that Reeves fired offensive assistant Mike Shanahan for insubordination, believing the young coach was conspiring with Elway to get him fired.
It was a rift that never fully healed for anyone, and you can bet Reeves, who went on to coach the Giants, and Falcons, was none too pleased to lose to Elway in the Super Bowl with the Falcons.
5. Terrell Owens Vs. Every Head Coach Ever
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OK, so you throw one coach (Steve Mariucci) under the bus in San Francisco. Accidents happen. As long as you learn from it and don't do it again, that's fine.
Except Terrell Owens didn't learn and did do it again, wearing out his welcome with constant criticism of the play-calling in Philadelphia after the Niners shipped him out.
It happened once more in Dallas, after Philly and head coach Andy Reid were so fed up with him that they shipped him out too. Things were great until Owens stopped getting the ball as much as he'd like. Then the whining started again, and he started another feud with another head coach in Wade Philips.
The talented wideout is in Cincinnati now and he may have learned to keep his mouth shut once and for all. But the season's not over yet and the Bengals aren't exactly lighting the world on fire with their play.
4. Brett Favre Vs. Brad Childress
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Who thought putting an aging diva quarterback who loves to audible out of plays being called to make, shall we call them "high-risk," passes with an authoritarian head coach who hated any kind of creativity from his players and was as big of a jerk as there is in football, was a good idea?
Favre and Childress never got along in Minnesota, but when things went south, both parties tried to throw the other under the bus. Childress criticized Favre's passing decisions, saying "sometimes, it's OK to just punt". Favre made it known he wasn't a fan of Chilly's play-calling and he had little respect for the coach.
Unlike some of these, there was definitely a winner in this scenario: Favre, who still has a job despite all of his interceptions.
3. Terry Bradshaw Vs. Chuck Noll
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You would never have known it during their heydays of the 1970's, but Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw and head coach Chuck Noll were none too fond of one another.
Noll thought Bradshaw, who was born in Louisiana and had a thick Southern accent, was too stupid to grasp his offense. He thought his quarterback took too many risks and that his confidence in his arm would get him in trouble.
Bradshaw thought Noll hated his guts and never liked the legendary coach too much. The pair may have been successful, but it wasn't because they liked each other.
2. Raymond Domenech Vs. France
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It takes a special kind of jerk-off to alienate your entire team during the biggest tournament of many of their careers.
But that's exactly what French head coach Raymond Domenech did during the 2010 World Cup.
Domenech was already a lame duck, his successor having been named. But after striker Nicolas Anelka was kicked off the team in the middle of a match for having the audacity to challenge the coach's authority, the rest of the French national team staged a coup. The team refused to practice for the eccentric coach, holing up in the team bus and refusing to come out.
The incident incited a media firestorm and Domenech left the team with his reputation in tatters, as the French team collapsed, crashing out with nary a win to their names.
1. Latrell Sprewell Vs. P.J. Carlesimo
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This one needs no explanation. When you choke your coach, you immediately go to the top of the feud list. Granted, Spree's a whack-job and P.J.'s a dictator, but still. You can't run around choking people who yell at you.
No one will touch Spree and P.J., unless, of course, someone kills their coach. That would probably bump them out of the top spot. Until that day, though, no one can touch Spree.
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