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Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes Of All Time
Throughout the history of sports, there have been numerous athletes that earned the title of being controversial.
Athletes can be considered controversial for a number of reasons: whether they love to trash talk, cheat at their sports, bit their opponent’s ears, or get caught in a criminal investigation, fans and the media stay divided. Throughout the history of sports, there have been numerous athletes that earned the title of being controversial. In this article, we have the list of the Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes Of All Time.
1. Mike Tyson – Boxing
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Mike Tyson, also known as Malik Abdul Aziz, is a retired American professional boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. He is the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old. No boxer is as infamous and famous as Tyson.
But there is some controversy surrounding this amazing athlete. Tyson’s most infamous argument comes from biting the ear off of his opponent, Evander Holyfield, and then talking about ripping out his heart. Tyson also failed to make a comeback in the ring more than once, and he has also displayed bizarre behavior over the years.
2. Kobe Bryant – Basketball
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Many basketball fans adore Kobe Bryant for the dedication he has to the NBA game. It, in a sense, is what has helped make him such a controversial figure. His 2003 sexual assault case that made headlines might have been dropped the following year, but that is only part of what makes Bryant so controversial. Bryant has always had no problem speaking his mind and is not the easiest player to get along with.
His feud with Shaquille O’Neal ended the Lakers dynasty of the early 2000s. He has also chased many other star players out of L.A., with Dwight Howard departing after playing only one year. Pau Gasol had difficulties playing with Kobe and high-profile stars Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge have elected to avoid playing in L.A., where they happen to own homes. Coaches have lost their jobs, players have failed to enjoy playing in LA, and yet Kobe Bryant continues to average over $24 million in salary while only playing in 35 games in 2014.
3. Jason Miller – MMA (Fighter)
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Jason Nicholas Miller, best known as Mayhem Miller, is an American mixed martial arts fighter and TV host. Miller coaches fighters in Irvine, California at Mayhem Martial Arts and has trained extensively with Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, California. He has fought in the UFC, Strikeforce, WFA, WEC, and DREAM. Miller was the host of MTV’s reality series Bully Beatdown.
4. Ray Rice – Footballer
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Although spousal abuse and battery have seemingly become all too common off the field of play in the NFL, the Ray Rice incident struck a chord with the public looking for less acceptance and more change. The case of Ray Rice became less about the abuse to his wife that was clearly evident on surveillance tapes and more about the lack of severity in the punishment handed down by the league.
For the incident, Rice initially received a two-game suspension by the league, causing public outcry for a punishment that was deemed to be too soft. The Ravens did their part by terminating Rice’s contract, and the league was forced to suspend him indefinitely to appease the overwhelming majority of displeased fans. The Rice case has led the NFL and the public to take a tougher stance against domestic violence in the NFL and our society as a whole.
5. Pete Rose – Baseball
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Peter Edward Rose Sr, also known by his nickname “Charlie Hustle”, is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds lineup known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the 1970s. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Montreal Expos. During and after his playing career, he served as the manager of the Reds from 1984 to 1989.
Rose was a switch hitter and is the all-time MLB leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215), and outs (10,328).[1] He won three World Series, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, and the Rookie of the Year Award. He also made 17 All-Star appearances at an unequaled five positions (second baseman, left fielder, right fielder, third baseman, and first baseman). Rose won both of his Gold Gloves when he was an outfielder, in 1969 and 1970.
6. Tim Tebow – Football
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Timothy Richard Tebow is an American football tight end and quarterback who is a free agent. He played three seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a quarterback, most notably with the Denver Broncos.
Tebow played college football at Florida, where he became the first underclassman to win the Heisman Trophy and was a part of two BCS National Championship championships in 2007 and 2009, winning the BCS National Championship Game MVP in 2009.
He broke many records during his collegiate career, and at the conclusion of his senior season, he was the school and Southeastern Conference (SEC) all-time leader in both career passing efficiency and rushing touchdowns.
7. Lance Armstrong – Cycling
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Lance Armstrong tops the ranking of most controversial athletes. He is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times between 1999 and 2005. During this period, Armstrong took first place in the Tour de France and cemented himself as one of the best in the sport.
He might be seen as one of the best cyclists of all time. But he is due to have all of his Tour de France titles stripped, after choosing to stop fighting the doping allegations that have overshadowed his career.
The controversy is all about whether or not Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs during his career, but records show he has passed several hundred drug tests during his professional cycling career.
8. Bill Belichick – Football
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Success breeds contempt, and there is plenty of contempt and jealousy that makes many in the NFL community want to hate Bill Belichick. Belichick remains one of the most controversial figures in the NFL with his practices shrouded in secrecy and his less-than-informative press conferences. Nicknamed by detractors, Bill “BeliCheat”, Belichick has been caught cheating and will do whatever it takes to gain an advantage by abusing loosely interpreted rules. In what was dubbed, “Spygate”, Belichick was caught using an assistant to videotape the New York Jets defensive signals. He was fined $500,000 by the league while also drawing a $250,000 fine for the Patriots and the loss of their 2008 first-round draft pick.
Recently, the Patriots were involved in the “Deflategate” controversy with improperly inflated footballs that many considered Belichick to be a part of. Unfair or not, he has developed a reputation for attracting controversy by consistently bending the rules.
9. Donald Sterling – Basketball
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Donald T. Sterling is an American attorney and businessman who was the owner of the San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers professional basketball franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 to 2014.
In April 2014, Sterling was banned from the NBA for life and fined $2.5 million by the league after private recordings of him making racist comments were made public. In May, Sterling’s wife Shelly reached an agreement for the Sterling Family Trust to sell the Clippers for $2 billion to Steve Ballmer, which Sterling contested in court.
The NBA Board of Governors approved the sale of the Clippers to Ballmer in August 2014. Sterling settled his lawsuit against the NBA in November 2016 and remains active in Los Angeles real estate.
10. Ben Johnson – Sprinter
Top 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
Benjamin Sinclair Johnson, CM OOnt is a Canadian former sprinter. During the 1987–88 season he held the title of the world’s fastest man, breaking both the 100m and the 60m indoor World Records.
He won the 100 meters at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, and at the 1988 Summer Olympics, but was disqualified for doping and stripped of the gold medal; later he also lost most of the other medals he had achieved while being doped – with anabolic steroids and was the first man who beat 9.9 (Rome, 1987) and 9.8 seconds (Seoul, 1988).
Benjamin won two bronze medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, as well as gold medals at the 1985 World Indoor Championships, 1986 Goodwill Games, and 1986 Commonwealth Games. He was trained by Charlie Francis.
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