Top 50 Hated Sports Figures
Joey Porter let loose with smack talk directed at Brandon Marshall and the Broncos after Miami's win over Denver on Sunday. The Dolphins linebacker sure has a way with eliciting plenty of strong reaction -- much of it negative -- from opponents and fans. Check out our countdown of the most hated personalities in sports.
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50) Kyle Busch: The 23-year-old has earned himself a reputation around NASCAR tracks as "Kid Conceited," professing he'd rather be hated for who he really is than pretend to be someone he is not.
Reed Saxon, AP
49) Tonya Harding: The disgraced figure skater still tries to stay relevant in the sports world (even taking up boxing) years after trying to have Nancy Kerrigan whacked... in the knee.
Al Bello, Getty Images
48) Sonics owner Clay Bennett: Especially unpopular in the Pacific Northwest, the owner of the former Sonics franchise will forever be known for taking the NBA out of Seattle.
Elaine Thompson, AP
47) Becky Hammon: This WNBA star tossed aside her South Dakota roots and represented Russia at the Olympics after being left off the U.S. roster - despite the fact that she doesn't speak Russian.
Dusan Vranic, AP
46) Tim McCarver: A lot of baseball fans aren't fond of the former catcher's commentary, as some would rather turn the sound down than listen to a FOX broadcast with him and Joe Buck.
Kathy Willens, AP
45) Pete Carroll: The architect of Southern California's football powerhouse has made himself a hated man around the rest of the country with a program that doesn't seem clean to its detractors.
Michael Conroy, AP
44) Marco Materazzi: The grating Italian defender made himself a household name by insulting French star Zinedine Zidane during the 2006 World Cup Final, allegedly telling the star his sister was a whore. The insult earned Materazzi a bald head to the chest, and a permanent place in the YouTube Hall of Fame.
John MacDougall, AFP/Getty Images
43) John McEnroe: The former "bad boy" of tennis continues to grate at fans even in his middle age, as he proved recently when he was kicked out of a senior tournament for arguing with the umpire.
Friedemann Vogel, Getty Images
42) Joe Morgan: The Baseball Hall of Famer has moved on to ESPN's broadcast booth, and certainly hasn't won many friends among baseball fans with his pointed comments at certain teams and players around the league during Sunday night broadcasts - even spawning the "Fire Joe Morgan" website.
Getty Images/ firejoemorgan.com
