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Ranking Boston’s biggest sports villains, with Kyrie in mind originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Everyone loves a good villain. Without Lex Luthor, Superman is just some kind of moralistic drip. Without Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker is just a petulant brat who complains about power converters. Without the Wicked Witch or Hannibal Lecter… you get the idea.
Boston sports has seen its share of villains, dating back to Harry Frazee and his sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees, giving rise to one dynasty and burying another. The mere presence of a player, coach, or executive we love to hate immediately heightens the drama: finally beating the Yankees in 2004 was extra special because we knew George Steinbrenner had to see it.
This brings us to the 2024 NBA Finals, which apparently pit the Celtics against the Mavericks, but it’s really just as much about Boston vs. Kyrie Irving. The traitor guard He packed a multitude of sins into his brief tenure with the Celtics.and will undoubtedly be the focus of ire when Game 1 begins at TD Garden on Thursday.
But where does he rank among the biggest Boston villains of the last 50 years? In honor of Irving’s No. 11, here are the top 11 scoundrels, miscreants and reprobates in Boston sports history. (If you’re wondering why Patriots destroyer Bernard Pollard isn’t on the list, it’s because his knockouts on Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski lacked intention, unlike others on this list.)
11. Juan Enrique
A recent addition that five years ago would have been unthinkable. John Henry, overseer of four World Series titles, a villain?
However, since the firing of Dave Dombrowski, Henry has become the worst type of owner – absent, disconnected, greedy. The Red Sox have become irrelevant under him, more concerned with the rest of their vast portfolio than the club that puts the “Fenway” in FSG.
Transform a marquee franchise into an afterthought through conscious (in)action and, yes, you’re a villain.
10. David Price
He was a big man in the 2018 playoffs and the Red Sox don’t win a World Series without him, but Price was so horribly miserable in Boston that he deserves a special mention.
Highlighting the iconic and impeccable Dennis Eckersley – who happens to be one of the kindest, most genuine people you’ll ever meet – was bad enough. Price’s challenge made matters worse. There were members of the Red Sox front office and coaching staff who feared that apologizing to Eckersley would hurt Price and destroy his reputation in the clubhouse.
There’s a word for that and it’s “Yuck.”
9.Roger Clemens
It’s not that the Rocket is gone in free agency, because that’s as much a decision for Dan “Twilight” Duquette as it is for Clemens. That’s all that happened afterward.
Clemens began free agency saying he wanted to play closer to his home in Texas before taking the bigger money from the Blue Jays, who play in Canada. He eventually found his way not only to the Yankees, but also to the heart of baseball’s steroid scandal. When he faced Pedro Martínez in a memorable American League Championship Series matchup in 1999, he might have been Boston’s most hated athlete.
Time has softened those wounds, but let us never forget the impromptu call and response of “Where’s Roger?… In the shower!” at Fenway that afternoon.
8. Bill Parcells
The Tuna passed through New England like a meteor: a scheming, proud, and aggrieved shopping meteor.
In reality, it came not under the direction of Robert Kraft, but of James Orthwein, the Anheuser-Busch magnate who wanted to move the franchise to St. Louis. Parcells immediately clashed with Kraft, and by the time the Pats reached Super Bowl XXXI against the heavily favored Packers, Parcells was already in the process of trying to find a backdoor out of his contract. He ended up joining the hated Jets and stealing the Patriots’ best player, running back Curtis Martin.
Before the Foxboro Super Bowl era, nothing surpassed the annual Tuna Bowls for intensity and drama.
7. Bill Laimbeer
Everything about Laimbeer was hateful, from his privileged Notre Dame look to his preppy hair to the Hannibal Lecter mask he wore on the court. Laimbeer was the old man at the Y who made up for his slow pace with sharp elbows and constant grabs, grabs and punches.
Laimbeer, a proud irritant, delighted in leveling his opponents. Robert Parish He couldn’t hold on any longer and knocked him down.. Larry Bird shot him a ball.
Laimbeer was the face of the Bad Boy Pistons and even became the punchline for Cheers, when Kevin McHale looked at an x-ray labeled “adult male gorilla” and noted, “That’s not me. It could be Laimbeer, though.”
6. Pat Riley
Call it a lifetime achievement award. During the ’80s, Riley presented Hollywood’s counterpoint to the lunchbox Celtics, all with slicked-back hair, tailored suits and Psycho American chic.
He worked constantly with the referees when the Celtics defeated his Showtime Lakers and celebrated two titles at Boston Garden. Then came his second act as coach of the Knicks, where he nearly ruined basketball with the unmissable bully-ball style marked by Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason.
Now he’s the captain of the Heat, Boston’s annual enemy, lurking on the court and somehow finding ways to win long after losing LeBron James. He’d be admirable if he weren’t so fucking frustrating.
5. Jack Tatum
“Villain” doesn’t even begin to describe Tatum’s place in Boston sports history. “Pure evil” might be better.
He paralyzed Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley with an unnecessarily brutal hit At a preseason game in 1978, he stood over his mangled body and then not only never apologized, but wrote a memoir, “They Call Me a Murderer,” that celebrated his destructive nature. He belongs to a separate category of malevolence.
4. Roger Goodell
Arguably he was simply doing the bidding of the league’s other owners or trying to make up for his perceived shortcomings during Spygate, but Goodell willingly played the heavy role during Deflategate, the scandal that consumed Patriots fans for months. .
Regardless of what Tom Brady may or may not have done with those footballs, we can all agree that he did not deserve appeals that went all the way to the Supreme Court’s goal line. Goodell remains persona non grata in New England and that will never change.
3. Ulf Samuelsson
You had to live it to appreciate the tragedy of Samuelsson’s dirty hit on Cam Neely during the 1991 NHL playoffs. The knee-to-knee collision created a degenerative condition that sidelined Neely for most of the next two seasons and ended his career at age 31, although not before he returned to score 50 goals in 49 games in 1994.
Samuelsson didn’t care. He accepted his reputation as one of the league’s dirtiest players (a stick in the eye six years earlier also ended the career of Montreal forward Pierre Mondou) and Bruins fans wish the referees hadn’t intervened so quickly when Neely He dropped the gloves with Samuelsson in 1993..
Neely took a few left blows straight to the head, but karmic justice would be dealt out two years later with a punch from Tie Domi that knocked out Samuelsson.
2. Alex Rodríguez
It’s hard to believe it’s been more than 20 years since the Red Sox spent an entire fall immersed in the pursuit of Rodriguez, whether they want to or not, only to see him join the rival Yankees when their deal collapsed at the 11th hour.
Following in the footsteps of Aaron Bleeping Boone, the news about A-Rod felt cosmically unfair. The animosity only intensified when Jason Varitek shoved his catcher’s mitt in Rodriguez’s face during the 2004 season, and then when Rodriguez he slapped Bronson Arroyo on the glove in an underhanded manner during the playoffs.
Add in some complaints about David Ortiz and his own disgraceful behavior during the steroid era, and A-Rod is an all-time villain.
1. Kyrie Irving
Recency bias? No. Irving was forced out of Cleveland because he was tired of being LeBron James’ sous chef, which should have been a red flag. Even when things were going well in Boston, Irving came across as a self-absorbed know-it-all.
Then came the knee injury that ended his 2018 season in March, his disappearance before Game 7 against the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals, his promise to stay in Boston followed by angry proclamations that he owed nothing to nobody, his public flirtations with Kevin Durant, the constant attacks on his young teammates, his resignation from the Celtics in the 2019 playoffs, his escape to Brooklyn, his return to Boston twice in the playoffs, the anger of Garden fans and finally, its place as the final impediment to Banner 18. .
Irving is the ultimate villain because he nearly destroyed the Celtics inside and out, and the next chapter in this saga will be written later this month.
Losing an NBA title this year would be pretty devastating, but losing to Irving would be devastating beyond words.