Rivalries happen in sports because athletes possess an inner drive to compete and succeed. They want to be the best possible version of themselves. It’s common for them to hold grudges for a long time. But one of the most destructive forms of rivalries are teammate feuds.
The fact that they’re relatively rare makes them more dramatic. Some simmer beneath the surface for years, with both athletes maintaining a cold distance. Others erupt into sudden outbursts of violence that stunned the world. The wildly popular ‘The Last Dance’ documentary brought to light one such feud involving Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. We recently looked back at the best Air Jordan sneakers, but this feud was a more insidious aspect of the 1990s Bulls.
So today, we’re going to take a look at 35 of the most bitter teammate-to-teammate feuds from all sports via The Sportster. Check out the list below:
35. Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak
Garnett was the Minnesota Timberwolves’ most important player during his time with the franchise. He was also incredibly serious about his defense. This immediately created tension between him and Szczerbiak. The latter was effectively the opposite of Garnett in terms of attitude and mentality toward basketball. In the end, this teammate feud almost resulted in physical blows.
During a practice in 2000, Szczerbiak became irritated with Garnett for not calling out a screen. The latter didn’t take kindly to his teammate’s words and told him to play some defense. Then it all escalated and the rest of the T-Wolves had to pull the two men apart before they did something that they probably wouldn’t have regretted much. However, their competitiveness must be respected.