The Wildest Pro Athlete Locker Room Incidents
Ahhh, the sheer excitement of it all: the suspense, the cheering crowd, heck, even the hot dogs and pretzels one can get at the food stand. If you haven't noticed yet, we're rattling off just some of the reasons why people love to attend live sporting events. Watching athletes compete on TV, a computer, or phone can be almost as exciting. But still, the things that happen off the field or court, like in the team's locker room, can offer an equal amount of entertainment.
Like in the 1979 Super Bowl when a Pittsburgh Steelers fan got past security and everyone else, then got into the team's locker room, according to what the late Steve Sabol, co-founder of NFL Films, told the Los Angeles Times in 2010. But it wasn't just that — the fan removed all of his clothes, jumped in the team's shower, and bathed with players like "Mean" Joe Greene. Just imagine. Now, what are some of the other wild moments that have occurred in pro athlete locker rooms? Keep on reading, and you'll soon be in the know.
Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton pulled out guns
NBA players bring all kinds of things with them to the team locker room, but a gun isn't usually one of them. Now, the operative word here is "usually" because in 2009 Gilbert Arenas got into an argument with his Washington Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton in the locker room of Washington D.C.'s Verizon Center, and guns were drawn.
For the record, the league prohibits players from bringing weapons into all NBA-related events, including arenas, so even if Arenas didn't flash his guns, he'd still be in deep trouble. It's said that he failed to pay Crittenton some money that he owed him from a gambling debt, and later Crittenton threatened to shoot him in the knee. Days after that, Arenas left four guns on Crittenton's locker room chair with a note that read "pick one." That made Crittenton pull out his own gun.
Arenas was charged with carrying a gun without a license outside a home or business — a felony — and was suspended by the NBA. He later received two years probation and 30 days in a halfway house after accepting a plea deal. Crittenton, meanwhile, got one year of probation, but he'd later be in much bigger trouble. That's because in 2015, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison for shooting and killing a 22-year-old mother of four.
Geno Smith got the worst of it
In 2015, Todd Bowles, the coach for the New York Jets at the time, told reporters that his quarterback Geno Smith would be out for several weeks because of a nasty injury. But Smith wasn't hurt by an opposing player who tried to clean his clock on the field. The injury happened in the locker room and was caused by his teammate, IK Enemkpali, who sucker-punched him, according to Bowles. So, what caused the violent dispute? Smith reportedly owed Enemkpali $600.
Per ESPN, the former Jets quarterback was a no-show at Enemkpali's youth football camp after Enemkpali paid $1,200 for his travel and lodging. It's said that Smith was supposed to reimburse Enemkpali for half of the money but failed to do so. But regardless of the reason, the punch caused major damage, and Smith required surgery since his jaw was fractured in two places. Enemkpali was also kicked off the team.
"I apologize for what happened. It should have never happened," Enemkpali said in a statement shared by Sports Illustrated. "I should have walked away from the situation. It was never my intention to hurt anybody ... Geno and I let our frustration get the best of us." Smith has pretty much stayed quiet about the punch but he sent an angry tweet to ESPN once seeing their 2022 article about it.
John Tortorella blew his cool
"I didn't like what happened at the beginning of the game, and it was absolute stupidity how I went about it ... It's inexcusable and I'm totally embarrassed by it."
That's what NHL coach John Tortorella said in 2016, per The Columbus Dispatch, when he was asked about the infamous incident that happened two years prior between himself and Bob Hartley, who coached the Calgary Flames at the time. Tortorella was coaching the Vancouver Canucks back then and accused Hartley of using dirty tactics at the beginning of the game after sending in Kevin Westgarth, Blair Jones, and Brian McGrattan for his fourth line. Then a line brawl erupted after Tortorella sent his fourth line in.
But the chaos didn't end there, because later Tortorella went storming toward Hartley's dressing room, and it's safe to assume that he didn't want to have a nice, calm discussion. Video footage shows some of the melee, and Tortorella can be seen being restrained by the Flames' players and staff. He received a 15-day suspension for his actions, and Hartley was fined $25,000 for his part of the fight that took place during the game. "My heart was in the right place in what I thought I was doing at that time. Obviously, I wasn't thinking clearly but I cared about my team at that point in time," Tortorella said about the incident when asked about it in 2016.
Hal McRae cleared off his desk
After a 1993 matchup between the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers, one person was left with a bloody cut on his face. But it wasn't one of the players — it was reporter Alan Eskew after former Royals manager Hal McRae lost it and began throwing items all over the place.
The meltdown happened after radio host John Doolittle asked McRae why Royals legend George Brett didn't bat for Keith Miller when the bases were loaded. McRae answered by dropping an F-bomb while calling the question stupid. But his anger was just getting warmed up because after that, he threw what looked like a tape recorder as well as a cup of liquid. Perhaps the highlight of his tantrum was a 360-degree spin that he made while throwing a phone off his desk.
McRae continued to rant after that, but much of what he said was censored by beeps, which shows how many curse words he uttered. "Put that in your pipe and smoke it," the former coach said in parting. McRae — who received a fine and suspension for his tantrum — eventually apologized to the injured reporter, who said that he had no hard feelings since McRae didn't intend to hurt him. "Physically, I'm OK, a little sore and I have a headache," said Eskew, per United Press International. Boy, talk about losing it.
Chris Paul might've used a secret tunnel
There was plenty of on-the-court action when the Houston Rockets played the Los Angeles Clippers in January 2018, but it could be said that what happened in the locker room afterward was even more exciting. Simply put, the Rocket's Chris Paul, James Harden, Trevor Ariza, and Gerald Green went to the Clippers' locker room to pay the Clippers' Austin Rivers and Blake Griffin a little visit. That's because Rivers did some jawing at Ariza during the game and Griffin bumped the Rocket's coach Mike D'Antoni while running the floor.
Police were called, and Clippers players dared Paul and his teammates to fully come into their locker room. The thing is, Paul used to play for the Clippers, and he must've known the layout of the Staples Center arena, where the game took place. So, he was accused by folks on Twitter of using a secret tunnel to take his teammates to the Clippers' locker room, a theory that many had fun with.
"Congratulations to Chris Paul on actually leading a team somewhere," one person tweeted before it was removed and captured by Bleacher Report. "Chris Paul hid in a dining cart as Trevor Ariza, wearing a security uniform and fake mustache, wheeled him into the Clippers' locker room," another message read. But regardless of the accusation against Paul, he wasn't suspended for his actions and neither was James. However, Ariza and Green were.
Dee Strange-Gordon showed manners before fighting
Was it over an error being committed on the field? Or did it have absolutely nothing to do with the game of baseball? That's probably what a lot of people wondered when it was reported that a brawl went down in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse in 2018, the place where players change and shower. The Seattle Times reported the fight was between teammates Dee Strange-Gordon and Jean Segura, due to Strange-Gordon botching a play in centerfield during a game earlier that week. But that wasn't confirmed by Scott Servais, the team's manager, or Mariners players. Either way, the brawl went down four hours before their game.
Now, teammates throwing punches at each other in the locker room is fairly common in sports. But what occurred between Strange-Gordon and Segura was different since it happened right in front of reporters. Plus, it started with some politeness on Strange-Gordon's part.
"Could you guys clear out of the clubhouse for just a few minutes, please?" he asked reporters, who were there to interview Servais. When they complied, Strange-Gordon went back into the clubhouse, and a melee was heard. Then once the doors swung open, Strange-Gordon and Segura were seen fighting while other Mariners players tried to break it up, resulting in chaos. "I don't want to talk about it," infielder Robinson Canó said later. "What happens in here, stays in here."
Carmelo Anthony went looking for Kevin Garnett
In the rough-and-tumble, high-flying world of the NBA, opposing players get into heated exchanges all the time. But it's not every day their beef involves cereal, and yet, that's exactly what was involved in Kevin Garnett and Carmelo Anthony's altercation after a 2013 game. Carmelo was playing for the New York Knicks then, and Garnett the Boston Celtics. During the game, they got into it and had to be separated. Carmelo then went to the Celtics' locker room looking for Garnett when the game was over but couldn't get in. So, he headed to the Celtics' bus and waited for him. Garnett was later accused of telling Carmelo that his ex-wife, La La Anthony, "tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios" when they were talking trash to each other during the game.
Carmelo — who was suspended for his post-game actions — wouldn't deny or confirm the Honey Nut Cheerios thing but admitted that Garnett crossed a line. "There's certain things that you just don't say to men, another man," he told USA Today.
But in her 2014 book "The Love Playbook," La La denied that Garnett said the Honey Nut Cheerios line, and Garnett also said it wasn't true. "I've never said anything about anyone's family. I've never said anything to Melo about La La," he told GQ in 2021. "I'm a Frosted Flakes man. I'm not a Honey Nut Cheerios guy. I never knew where that came from."
Román Colón was found guilty
Although pitcher Román Colón played in the major leagues for years, some may never forget that he got into a bit of legal trouble when he was sent to the minors while playing for the Detroit Tigers. It was 2007, and Colón was playing for the Toledo Mud Hens. He got into a fight with his teammate Jordan Tata at the Mud Hens' Fifth Third Field stadium. Then when all the smoke cleared and the details of the fight landed in front of a judge, Colón was charged with one count of felonious assault.
But it's not because of what he did to Tata; it had to do with Jason Karnuth, another teammate who got hurt. See, Karnuth tried to break up the fight, and Colón punched him, breaking several bones in his face. Karnuth's wife, Rachel Karnuth, eventually filed a police report against Colón, which quickly made the punch a legal matter.
Colón was found guilty after pleading no contest and was ordered to do 200 hours of community service, per ESPN. The pitcher was told that he'd be teaching children who are disabled and come from unfortunate circumstances the game of baseball. He was also suspended by the Tigers for seven days and traded by the team one month later. Undoubtedly, that was one costly locker room fight for Colón.
Drake's superstar status didn't help him
When the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the NBA Finals in 2013, Drake was a global superstar, since he'd already released two high-charting albums. So of course when he showed up at the Heat's locker room in American Airlines Arena to celebrate with the team, security would automatically let him in, right? Wrong, because the rapper was stopped dead in his tracks while being told only media was allowed in. "I am media," Drake replied, trying to pull a fast one.
People can be heard saying Drake's name, and the incident caused some commotion outside of the locker room. Clearly, the person in charge of letting people in either didn't know who the Canadian artist was or simply didn't care. Drake later talked about the locker room snub on ESPN's "Highly Questionable."
"We were having a great time and as a joke, I tried to go in with the media through the media entrance, as they were all swarming in," Drake explained. "That was a great night, one of the greatest nights of my life. But that was probably the highlight, getting denied by that old guy and it making news everywhere. That's a classic moment. I'm allowed to go in the Heat locker room for the most part, but I just tried to do it a funny way. It didn't work out for me, I'll never do it again." Good idea, Drake.