Dennis Rodman: 10 Controversial Athletes Who Were Better Than We Remember
Athletes cement themselves into our subconscious with their great play and accomplishments on the court. Unfortunately, sometimes players create controversy that takes away from their greatness and makes it hard to remember just how truly special these players were. I have listed 10 players who aren't getting enough credit for their on the court accomplishments because of off the court incidents that they have been involved in.
As always, let me know if you have any positive or negative comments about the piece.
1. John McEnroe
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John McEnroe is now remembered for his infamous “you can’t be serious” quote at Wimbledon in 1981. The Wimbledon tirade was one of many instances where the short tempered and insanely competitive McEnroe publicly lost his cool.
McEnroe was also featured in the Adam Sandler comedy “Mr.Deeds” in 2002. During one particular scene, Sandler tells the former tennis star “you know what it’s like to get riled up don’t you Johnny Mac” after Sandler’s character gets into a restaurant brawl.
What gets lost in the remembrance of the former star’s short temper is how great a tennis player McEnroe really was. John won Wimbledon singles titles in 1981, 1983 and 1984 and won three consecutive U.S. Open titles from (1979-1981). John was without a doubt a controversial athlete, but it shouldn’t cloud his greatness.
2. Dennis Rodman
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Dennis Rodman had a high profile marriage and subsequent divorce with Carmen Electra and later got involved with Madonna. In addition to his crazy love life, the man nicknamed “the worm” had a myriad of tattoos and seemed to have a different hair color for every day of the week.
What gets lost in all of this craziness is just how great an NBA player Dennis was. Rodman averaged an astounding 15.0 rebounds per game during the 1997-98 season and was an invaluable member of the Chicago Bulls dynasty. In addition, Rodman was named to the NBA All-Star team numerous times throughout his career.
Of course, we will always remember Dennis for his constant controversy (the wedding dress?????), but he will also go down as one of the all time great rebounders in NBA history.
3. Mike Tyson
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These days, Mike is doing cameo appearances in movies such as “The Hangover” and television shows such as “Entourage”. Mike’s fall from the top to bottom has been well documented, and instances such as his biting of Evander Holyfield’s ear and his sickening quote to Lennox Lewis where he said “I’m gonna rip his heart out and feed it to him” have plagued his legacy.
What shouldn’t get lost in all of this is how talented a boxer Mike Tyson was at one point in his career. Tyson won over 35 straight fights to begin his career before James “Buster” Douglas finally sent the brawler to the mat. Obviously, Mike’s terrific early career has been overshadowed by failed comebacks, criminal activity and controversial behavior. At one time, though, Mike Tyson was truly a special heavyweight boxer.
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4. Allen Iverson
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“The Answer” will always be remembered for his famous defense of why he missed practice.
Iverson issued this famous quote to the media “We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice.”
Iverson was also arrested for drug and firearms possession in 2002, which served as another off the court incident that took away from Iverson’s on the court greatness.
Allen was a star at Georgetown under John Thompson and went on to have a very successful 14-year NBA career in which he scored over 24,000 points and dished out 5,624 assists. The NBA-All Star appearances and accolades went with it of course and are too numerous to mention. Allen will truly be remembered as one of the best point guards of his era despite the controversy that surrounds his legacy.
5. Charles Barkley
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Sir Charles has never been one to be afraid to speak his mind.
Just a couple years ago, when Gene Chizik was hired by Auburn, Barkley cried foul at the decision and said there were ulterior motives for not hiring Tuner Gill an African American head coach from Buffalo.
"I think race was the No. 1 factor," said Barkley. "You can say it's not about race, but you can't compare the two résumés and say [Chizik] deserved the job. Out of all the coaches they interviewed, Chizik probably had the worst résumé."
It was comments such as this that ensured that Charles was never too far removed from controversy, even after his 16-year NBA career came to an end.
Amidst all the talk and the “Taco Bell Crunch Wrap Supreme” commercials, people may have forgotten that Charles pulled down 12,546 rebounds over the course of his career and was one of the dominant players of his era. Barkley also is a gold medal winner, NBA MVP recipient and has multiple NBA All-Star appearances to his name.
Charles may like to shake things up, but don’t let that cloud your opinion of his NBA greatness.
6. Isaiah Thomas
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Isaiah’s name now lives in infamy in New York City for his um….“unsuccessful”...tenure as Knicks general manager and coach. To make things even stranger, Isaiah took the Head Coaching job at Florida International, and in the middle of his tenure at FIU, he expressed interest in renewing his working relationship with the New York Knicks.
Nobody is sure what Isaiah’s next move is going to be, but it’s become clear that he won’t be mistaken for the next coaching mastermind or general manager. With all of these constant rumors and news swirling around Isaiah, you may have forgotten that this man was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history in 1996 and was elected into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2000.
7. Jose Canseco
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Jose is now remembered as the man who sent the domino’s flying and released the book “Juiced”, which served as the launching point of what would become MLB’s steroid crackdown. Now, Jose Canseco is known by many as a “rat” and is one of the most recognizable known steroid users from the era. Jose hit 462 homeruns and 1,407 RBI’s during his 16-year MLB career.
The only question is during how many of those at-bats was Jose “juicing” and do any of his gaudy statistics hold any merit whatsoever? In terms of what you see strictly in the history books, Jose had a better statistical career than most would give him credit for, but as far as doing it the right way and being a “hero” of our American pastime, Jose doesn’t come close to measuring up.
8. Joe Namath
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The last time “Broadway Joe” was in the headlines was in September 2006, when we saw an obviously inebriated Namath try to hit on and plant a kiss on ESPN sideline reporter Suzy Kolber. Joe obviously has no problem with sipping on a cold one or two as evidenced by his ill fated romantics with Kolber and his 1982 drunk driving arrest.
What shouldn’t get lost amongst this controversy is that Namath is in the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio and was one of the best quarterbacks of his time throughout the late 70’s and early 80’s. You can laugh at Joe Namath’s lack of drunken game, but don’t mock his excellent 13 year NFL career.
9. Pete Rose
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“I never bet on baseball."
Those were the words that Pete Rose repeated for over 10 years, even after having ample amounts of incriminating evidence stacked against him in the “Dowd Report”. It wasn’t until 2004 in Pete’s book titled “My Prison Without Bars” that Pete admitted to betting on the sport saying in his book,"Mr. Selig looked at me and said, 'I want to know one thing. Did you bet on baseball?'"
Rose writes. "I looked him in the eye. 'Sir, my daddy taught me two things in life— how to play baseball and how to take responsibility for my actions. I learned the first one pretty well. The other, I've had some trouble with. Yes, sir, I did bet on baseball.”
This admission hasn’t done any good in lifting Rose’s lifetime ban from baseball, and the “hit king” will most likely never make it into Cooperstown. This shouldn’t take away from the way Pete Rose played the game of baseball, though, doing things such as running to first base on a walk, separating a catcher’s shoulder on a home plate collision during the All-Star Game and playing ever game like it was his last. Pete Rose’s magic number of 4,192 hits will live on regardless of the controversial errors he has made.
10. Tim Hardaway
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Hardaway caused an uproar by making inflammatory comments against homosexuals by saying “"You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," Hardaway said.
"I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States." Hardaway said this after retired NBA center John Amaechi came out and announced that he was a homosexual.
Tim said that he wouldn’t want to be on the same team or in the same locker room as Amaechi.
"First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team. And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don't think that's right. And you know I don't think he should be in the locker room while we're in the locker room. I wouldn't even be a part of that," he said.
The fact that Tim Hardaway was a five time all-star and one of the better floor generals in the league while he was playing has obviously been overshadowed by his comments regarding homosexuality and Amaechi.
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