Sports

Teammates Who Were Actually Bitter Enemies In Real Life

Darren - July 13, 2023

Sports

Teammates Who Were Actually Bitter Enemies In Real Life

Darren - July 13, 2023

Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton

This is one of the most infamous sporting rivalries because these men didn’t hold back. The Wizards teammates flew to a road game on a chartered flight where they played a card game and gambled. Arenas allegedly won but Crittenton refused to pay him. They threatened to shoot each other but nothing happened and their teammates thought it was over.

However, that wasn’t the case because the bitter enemies pulled handguns on each other in the locker room. It almost escalated to a point they couldn’t return from. Luckily, teammates defused the situation but that wasn’t the end of the story. The NBA suspended both men while Crittenton is now serving time for manslaughter (via Sportskeeda).

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Bill Romanowski and Marcus Williams

Some teammates have passive-aggressive rivalries but others turn violent. That’s exactly what happened between these bitter enemies when they played for the Raiders. The pair argued on the practice field when Romanowski ripped off Williams’ helmet. Then he brutally punched him in the face.

Williams’ career came to a premature end after the incident because it was unsafe for him to continue. He successfully sued Romanowski for over $400,000 as he showed why violence doesn’t pay. Romanowski was one of the dirtiest players of his era but usually his opponents felt his wrath, not teammates (via USA Today Sports).

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Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan

Harding became an American darling after her unlikely rise to the top of figure skating. She came from a working-class background and nobody expected her to succeed at the highest level. But she set records and pulled off tricks that no woman completed before. However, in 1994, one of the most notorious sports scandals went down.

Assailants attacked Harding’s World Championship rival, Kerrigan. They smashed her on the leg with a baton and left her unable to compete. Later, it emerged that Jeff Gillooley, Harding’s ex-husband, orchestrated the attack. Later, it emerged that Harding was at least knowledgeable about the assault and it signaled the end of her career (via The Sun).

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Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer

This remains one of the most notorious incidents in Premier League history. These bitter enemies played for Newcastle United when things weren’t going well on the field. They traveled to Birmingham where they played Aston Villa but quickly fell behind. Then things got even worse for Boweyer, Dyer, and their team.

Allegedly, Bowyer made an aggressive comment when Dyer refused to pass him the ball. The next thing that everybody knew was that they were punching each other and ripping their shirts. In the end, the confused referee sent them from the field. It was a humiliating incident for both men but it became iconic (via The Mirror).

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Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg

Hamilton and Rosberg drove for Mercedes in Formula One. Everybody thought that Hamilton was the team’s star but Rosberg had other ideas. The German driver won the Championship in 2016 after a tense battle between the two men. The pair attempted to put each other out of the race to the chagrin of their team.

These bitter enemies were fierce competitors and wanted to be the best. The final race of Rosberg’s title-winning season saw Hamilton try to force him down the field. A third-place finish would guarantee Rosberg the championship. Hamilton tried his best to steal the win against his team’s wishes (via Sky Sports).

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Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers

These days Rodgers claims he loves Favre but that wasn’t true when they were teammates. They became bitter enemies because Rodgers replaced Favre as Green Bay’s starter. Favre became furious after the Packers opted to focus on the younger quarterback. It didn’t help that Favre kept teasing his own retirement and had injury problems.

Meanwhile, Rodgers didn’t appreciate the way Favre acted toward him. It disappointed him when the legend refused to teach him and left him without guidance. In the end, it didn’t matter because Rodgers developed into an all-time great. But these two men didn’t want to have anything to do with each other (via Zone Coverage).

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Eli Manning and Tiki Barber

Manning and Barber starred together for the New York Giants. Initially, they had a good relationship but eventually, it turned sour. That’s because Barber began opening his mouth and complaining about the team to the media. He also lost Manning’s respect when he retired on short notice and left the Giants short.

“It’s just one of those deals. I’m not going to lose any sleep about what Tiki has to say,” Manning said (via ESPN). “I guess I could have questioned his leadership skills last year by calling out the coach and having articles about him retiring in the middle of the season, and he’s lost the heart to play.”

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Chris Paul and James Harden

“We don’t talk, communicate, or anything like that,” Paul said in 2023 after a reporter asked him about his relationship with Harden. The pair became bitter enemies during their time together in Houston. Their fans hoped that the two men would combine to bring home a title but that’s not what happened.

Instead, they increasingly lost patience with each other because of stylistic differences. Paul also didn’t appreciate that Harden was the main man in Houston. He felt like he should have been the team’s A-side but that wasn’t the case. In the end, it wasn’t right for them to remain on the roster together (via Bleacher Report).

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Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov

There was a time not too long ago when McGregor and Lobov were inseparable. The pair became very close during their time as training partners at SBG Ireland. Lobov helped the Irishman to prepare for his biggest matches. Meanwhile, McGregor’s influence was key in helping Lobov earn a coveted spot on the UFC roster (via MMA Fighting).

In the end, money came between them as they fell out over McGregor’s whiskey brand. The Irishman sold his Proper 12 company for hundreds of millions of dollars. Lobov claimed that he gave McGregor the idea and sued him for a cut of the profits. However, the judge didn’t agree and in the end, they became bitter enemies for nothing.

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Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise

This is one of the craziest stories on this list because one teammate chased another with a golf club. Bellamy and Riise played for Liverpool in 2007. The team traveled to Portugal for a five-day training camp before their Champions League meeting with Barcelona. Bellamy played golf with Riise but he accused the Norwegian of cheating.

Riise denied this but that incensed Bellamy further. The Welsh forward went to Riise’s room that night with a golf club and whacked him across the leg. In the Norwegian’s biography, he wrote that he feared Bellamy was about to end his career. Luckily, teammates separated them before they went too far (via The Mirror).

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Ron Artest and Jermaine O’Neal

Artest and O’Neal played together for the Indiana Pacers. Artest, also known as Metta World Peace, was one of the most enigmatic players in the league. There’s no denying his quality but he was also incredibly volatile as we saw during the notorious ‘Malice at the Palace’ brawl. He received an unprecedented suspension but the team supported him throughout.

Finally, Artest’s ban came to an end and he returned to basketball. But he immediately demanded a trade and this infuriated his teammates. O’Neal didn’t speak to Artest for 14 years because he thought that he was incredibly selfish. Later, it emerged that Artest had mental health problems but nobody knew at the time (via Basketball Network).

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