24 heated sports feuds

Nowadays, the Red Wings and the Avalanche play in different conferences. Claude Lemieux has been retired for over 15 years. However, the very fact we mentioned his name likely still makes Wings fans’ blood boil. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Detroit and Colorado were a heated and violent rivalry. During the 1996 playoffs, a dirty hit from Lemieux seriously injured Red Wings player Kris Draper. In the ensuing years there would be many fights, a few of them involving goalies. Of course, none could match the night in March of 1997 when Lemieux turtled and Mike Vernon and Patrick Roy had perhaps the definitive goalie fight in NHL history.

Boxing is a sport built upon people punching one another, often in the face. That makes for fodder for feuds. While Mike Tyson once bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear, those two didn’t really seem to have a “feud” per se. Ali and Frazier was a different story. They faced one another three times, including in the “Fight of the Century” and “The Thrilla in Manila.” Also, they once fought on “The Dick Cavett Show.” Ali liked to talk trash, and Frazier didn’t like to put up with it. Things were truly heated.

They made a movie about the rivalry between Borg and McEnroe! Sure, it wasn’t seen by a lot of people, but it was made. Now, to the extent this was a feud, it was clearer on one side. Part of what made Borg and McEnroe’s rivalry so notable, aside from their 14 matchups on tour between 1978 and 1981, was their contrasting personalities. Borg was a cerebral Swede who rarely betrayed his emotions. McEnroe was…not that. When he was losing to Borg, his frustration was certainly clear.

Sometimes teammates fall out with one another. Shaq and Kobe were both great players, and together they led the Lakers to a ton of success. However, both also had egos and even Los Angeles wasn’t big enough for the both of them. Kobe went down as a career Laker, but Shaq made another move, this time to Miami. Both found success with their new teams. Diss tracks were rapped. Eventually, they made amends, but that took some time.

The rivalry between Bird and Magic has long been credited with making the NBA a popular sporting league. First, though, the two went head-to-head in college. Then, Bird got drafted by the Celtics, and the Lakers took Johnson. Those two teams were already rivals, but the addition of two future Hall of Famers took things to another level. While the two weren’t hostile, they were competitive, and the back-and-forth yielded the intensity of a feud.

LeBron James is from Akron, Ohio. The Cleveland Cavaliers lucked into the chance to draft him first overall in 2003. Quickly, he lived up to all the hype. When LeBron became a free agent during the 2010 offseason, there was much speculation. Then, “The Decision” was announced. LeBron got a TV special from ESPN to discuss his choice, which speaks to just how massive a star he was. Many Cleveland fans, and even sports fans from other cities, assumed that surely he was going to stay with Cleveland. Otherwise, why twist the knife with a TV special. Then, LeBron infamously took his talents to South Beach. The local hero became public enemy number one while he was with the Heat. Of course, he would eventually return to Cleveland and led the Cavaliers to their first title. That was enough to smooth things over.

The Cavs fans who burned LeBron’s jersey when he went to the Heat likely have forgiven him. Art Modell will never earn that forgiveness. Of course, he’s dead now, so that’s neither here nor there. Modell took control of ownership of the Cleveland Browns in 1961. There were some good times, but then he made a choice. Modell wanted to move the team to Baltimore, and the city and Browns fans weren’t having it. Eventually, the NFL had to work out a compromise. The Browns’ history stayed with Cleveland, to be given to a new expansion team. Modell would keep the Browns’ roster for his new team, but the Baltimore Ravens would be considered an expansion team as far as the league’s history. In the end, Cleveland was only without an NFL team for three seasons. That was enough to yield nothing but scorn for the rest of Modell’s life.

Reggie Miller is an NBA Hall of Famer, and was the first big-time three-point shooter. Of course, his three-point shooting looks quaint now, but he helped make it a significant part of NBA basketball. Spike Lee is…a director. An acclaimed director, but a director. He’s also a huge Knicks fan. In the 1990s, Miller’s Pacers and the Knicks were both good teams. They had many a heated game, and a couple playoff series as well. Lee, sitting courtside, was not shy about rooting for the Knicks, or talking trash to the Pacers. If you wanted to trash-talk the Pacers, obviously, you aimed for Miller. Of course, Miller was not going to be cowed by the guy who directed Do the Right Thing. There’s a famous choking gesture that sums up the feud well.

Look, somebody gets smashed in the knee, it’s going to make the cut for a sports feud. Kerrigan didn’t seem to have a real issue with Harding, her American figure skating rival. Also, it is plausible that Harding didn’t know that the attack was going to happen. All that said, a dude hit Kerrigan in the knee with a police baton to try and injure her so that she would not be Olympic competition for Harding. When that guy wanted to have his record expunged so he could try to be a Navy SEAL, Kerrigan wrote a letter effectively saying, “Yeah, hard pass on that.” Harding would eventually do “Celebrity Boxing.”

Martin and Steinbrenner did not have as good of a relationship as Steinbrenner and George Costanza did. Maybe Martin needed to get Big Stein hooked on Calzones. The Yankees owner and the off-and-on Yankees manager were both tempestuous individuals. Martin technically had five different stints managing the Yankees, because one time Steinbrenner fired him and then re-hired him the next season. To be fair, while Steinbrenner’s reputation in popular culture is well-established, Martin played his role in all this. He had issues with alcohol, and many of his players, and at least a couple of his four wives, had real issues with him. Martin and Steinbrenner were terrible for each other, but also perfect for each other.

Here’s one where the public perception of the feud has changed quite a bit. Lindros was a great hockey player, but he did himself no favors in terms of bolstering his reputation by refusing to play for the Quebec Nordiques, the team that drafted him first overall. He got dealt to the Flyers, where he spent the bulk of his Hall of Fame career. He also had injury issues. Leaving aside the time he suffered a collapsed lung and had he been put on a plane back to Philadelphia as the team wanted he would have likely died, his primary issue was concussions. Unfortunately, because concussions were not as well-understood by the public, and not treated as well by sports teams, Lindros’ concussions weren’t treated with caution which likely led to more concussions. Bobby Clarke was a Hall of Fame player for the Flyers, playing during the old-time hockey era of the “Broad Street Bullies.” He was the GM of the Flyers, and he didn’t think Lindros was tough enough. When Lindros took the team’s trainer to task publicly for failing to diagnose his second concussion in a single season, Clarke took his captaincy away. When Clarke finally traded Lindros, he did say some kind words about his former star. Just kidding, he said, “I don't give a ... whether he ever plays again or if I ever see him again. All he ever did was cause aggravation to our team.”

Perhaps the greatest offensive big man of all-time. Perhaps the greatest defensive big man of all-time. Now, off the court, the two were civil. On the court, though, Chamberlain and Russell were what Russell termed “competitors.” All things considered, Wilt was the better player. On the other hand: RINGZ. Chamberlain’s teams won two titles, while Russell’s won 11. When their teams squared off, Russell’s Celtics won seven out of eight series. A one-side feud – er, competition – but a great one.

Spike Lee may have talked trash with Reggie Miller, but he never found himself clinging to a guy’s leg. The Heat and Knicks met in the playoffs four seasons in a row. That will spark bad blood in and of itself. On top of that, we’re talking late-‘90s, early-2000s NBA basketball. Physical, defensive basketball where cracking 100 points was like getting to 120 today. Also, Pat Riley had been the head coach of the Knicks, but now he was leading the Heat. In each of the first two series players were suspended. It was in 1998, the second time around, that Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy grabbed onto Alonzo Mourning’s leg to try and break up his fight with Larry Johnson.

Michigan and Ohio State were rival schools before Woody and Bo and after. However, these two were definitely there for the peak of it being a football feud. Now, Bo wasn’t afraid to go after Ohio State or Woody, but Woody, while a great coach, was also an absolute maniac. On multiple occasions, including once against Michigan, Hayes stormed the field to berate refs, having to be restrained. His career ended because he punched a Clemson player in the throat in the Gator Bowl. Also, while it happened the year before Bo took over at Michigan, Hayes is also responsible for the most-entertaining moment in this rivalry. In a game Ohio State won 50-14, Woody went for a two-point conversion as time expired. When asked why, Hayes quipped, “Because they wouldn’t let me go for three.”

Calipari, a great coach, has bounced around college hoops. Chaney, also a Hall of Fame coach, spent over two decades at Temple. In 1994, when Calipari was at UMass, he was giving a post-game speech. Chaney was mad about something. Really mad. Alarmingly mad. The two had a heated exchange, but Chaney brought most of the heat. After all, Chaney is the one who yelled, “When I see you, I’m gonna kick your...!” and, most notably, “I’ll kill you.” Naturally, Chaney was suspended…for one whole game.

Michael Jordan and the Bulls were the team on the rise, but one team stood in MJ’s way. That would be their rivals, a few hours away in the Motor City. It’s not just that the Pistons were thwarting the Bulls’ ambition. These were the Bad Boys Pistons. They didn’t make things easy on anybody, much less the Bulls. The Bad Boys Pistons were the ones to introduce the “Jordan Rules,” which was basically, “Make Jordan’s life as miserable as possible on the court.” The Pistons won two titles, in 1989 and 1990, but as you likely know, eventually Jordan and the Bulls broke through.

Pete Rose was a great player, and his on-the-field merits (off-the-field is a different story) would have landed him in the Hall of Fame. However, he also bet on MLB baseball while he was actively involved in MLB baseball. This led to Commissioner Bart Giamatti “banning” Rose from all things MLB, including induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The quotation marks are owing to the fact Giamatti allowed Rose to “voluntarily” sever ties from MLB to avoid stricter punishment. Then, Giamatti died five months into being commissioner. Fay Vincent took over, but Selig is the one who was commissioner for over two decades. Rose continually cajoled Selig for reinstatement, and Selig kept rebuffing him. 

As two Original Six teams, the Bruins and Rangers have played dozens upon dozens of times over the decades. Plus, they are Boston and New York teams, and those cities have a baked-in sporting feud. However, we wanted to highlight the Bruins and Rangers for one particular evening. It was two days before Christmas, 1979. The Bruins were playing at Madison Square Garden, and the two teams were scuffling on the ice. Nothing unusual there. Then, a fan reached down, grabbed Stan “Bulldog” Jonathan’s hockey stick, and also cut his face. Messing with a guy nicknamed “Bulldog” is a bad idea as is, but the Bruins employed Terry O’Reilly and Mike Milbury at the time. O’Reilly, leading the charge but followed by some teammates, climbed the glass into the stands to try to catch the guy. Milbury was already in the locker room, but he came back, went into the stands, and was the one who got to the fan first. He took the guy’s shoe and smacked him in the face with it. Anyway, if you’re wondering why NHL rinks have such high glass, this is why.

Carlesimo was a pretty good coach. Sprewell was a very good player. His personal life is checkered, though, and he will forever be remembered for one of the more egregious squabbles between a player and a coach. Carlesimo wanted Sprewell to practice harder. Sprewell did the reasonable thing: Choked his head coach. Later, after he had the chance to shower and change, he calmed down. Just kidding, he tried to hit Carlesimo in the face. Sprewell’s contract with the Warriors was voided and he was suspended for 68 games. During that time, he was charged with reckless driving and ended up on house arrest.

There is a saying that if you have two quarterbacks, you really have none. This is not the case when you have two Hall of Fame quarterbacks. When the Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers, he and Brett Favre had a frosty relationship. Given everything we know about those two, that is not surprising. While Montana and Young don’t have the same reputations, their relationship when both were on the 49ers was even trickier. Montana was a great quarterback, but he had missed most of two seasons, opening the door for Young to emerge as a star in his own right. Both wanted to be the starter. Neither wanted to back down. Tensions got to the point where the 49ers traded away franchise icon Montana. They won another Super Bowl with Young, which justified their decision.

Hmm, let’s see. There’s the time Owens was interviewed by “Playboy” and was asked (for whatever reason) if he thought Jeff Garcia was gay and he said, “If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat.” There was a multitude of critical comments directed toward Donovan McNabb that led the Eagles to suspend him for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Things weren’t as bad with Tony Romo as with McNabb, but they weren’t great either. Owens was a great player, but also the paragon of the stereotype of the egomaniacal wide receiver. He is the guy who, because he wasn’t elected into the Hall of Fame in either of his first two years of eligibility, skipped his induction to host his own party.

Draymond has a lot of beefs. He’s the kind of player who is going to end up with a mixed legacy, not unlike Dennis Rodman, with his issues sometimes overshadowing just how good he is as a player. Rasheed Wallace is the only player who has been ejected more times than Draymond. His biggest feud has to be with Rudy Gobert, no stranger to rubbing people the wrong way. In the most egregious fight between the two, Green was suspended for five games for putting Gobert in a headlock.

The Dodgers and the Giants were rivals in New York, and they are rivals now in California. Within that rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants is the rivalry between Los Angeles and San Francisco. These fandoms also have a dynamic as intense as what you might find with, say, a Boston team and a New York team. Unfortunately, this has escalated into violence at times, particularly at Dodger Stadium.

In a state where college football is king, the rivalry between Alabama and Auburn is intense. The Iron Bowl is one of the defining rivalries in the sport. It’s also responsible for one of the most infamous moments of a fan taking a rivalry too far. At Toomer’s Corner is Auburn, fans would celebrate wins against Alabama by throwing toilet paper over two giant oak trees, trees that had been there since 1937. Then, Bama fan Harvey Updyke Jr. decided to poison those trees, leading to them being cut down. We know he did it because he called into Paul Finebaum’s show to brag about it. That’s a real feud.