Remembering 5 poisonous relationships in New York sports activities

By Mitch Rapp Last updated Feb 14, 2021

Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate the loves in your life, but in the world of New York sports, there are some duos where there is still no love lost.

The New York sports landscape has had its share of championships and magical moments, mainly from the Yankees and Giants alone, but with that success has also come rifts and feuds within the locker room that have leaked out into the public consciousness, and now can never be forgotten.

So, on this day of love, let’s look back on five of the most memorable toxic relationships in New York sports:

George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin

Photo credit Stephen Dunn /Allsport

We begin with the duo that arguably provided the most controversial fireworks in New York sports history. Steinbrenner brought in the former Yankee legend to manage the team in 1975, just two short years after Steinbrenner took control of the franchise. The marriage brought immediate team success, with an American League pennant in 1976 and a World Series title in 1977, but sprinkled through all the winning was a rift that would turn the Yankees’ managerial position into a revolving door that never stopped spinning until Martin’s death in 1989.

Steinbrenner and Martin’s relationship began to sour over differing views on whether to bring in Reggie Jackson prior to the 1977 season, and Jackson became the gasoline on the fire of the Steinbrenner/Martin feud. There were disagreements over where to bat Jackson in the lineup in 1977, and by 1978, Martin’s anger with Jackson boiled over after a bunting episode that included a clock radio being hurled against the clubhouse wall, and a suspension of Jackson. But Martin continued to sit Jackson after the suspension was lifted, which frustrated Steinbrenner, but Martin didn’t seem to care. In fact, Martin went after both of them in a move he almost immediately regretted.

“The two of them deserve each other,” Martin said. “One’s a born liar. The other’s convicted.”

Martin resigned (only because he would have been fired if not) shortly after those comments, but Steinbrenner snuck him into Yankee Stadium on Old Timer’s Day just five days later (the equivalent of Jackson’s suspension), and had Bob Sheppard announce to the crowd that Martin would be back as manager in 1980. He actually came back early in the 1979 season, was fired after it was over, was brought back in 1983, fired after the season, brought back in 1985 and, well, you get the idea.

Martin was expected to be brought back by Steinbrenner for a sixth tenure as Yankee manager before he was killed in a car crash in 1989.

Larry Brown and Stephon Marbury

Photo credit Mike Stobe/Getty Images

A pair of hopeful saviors turned into two more false prophets for a Knicks franchise starved for championship success, and together, Brown and Marbury provided plenty of back page content during their time in New York.

Brown and Marbury’s feud actually began before they came together with the Knicks, initially banging heads at the 2004 Olympics, where the United States finished with a disappointing bronze medal with Brown coaching. Marbury openly discussed his displeasure with his Olympic experience, even pulling a reporter aside to vent about Brown’s coaching style. After hearing about Marbury’s comments, an angry Brown reportedly asked for Marbury to be kicked off the team. That didn’t happen, and the two reunited for the 2005-06 season in New York. Marbury had already been with the team for two seasons, having been part of a blockbuster trade in 2004, and averaged 21.7 points per game while playing in all 82 games of his first full season. Then Brown arrived, and things got messy.

The two constantly clashed over playing style, with Marbury questioning Brown’s approach and constantly-changing lineups. Brown insisted Marbury do what was best for the team, and the two never saw eye-to-eye. The sour relationship ended after that first season with Brown’s firing, having only won 23 games and the team’s 59 losses matching the most in franchise history.

Marbury played two more seasons with the Knicks, both underwhelming, and made a stop in Boston before becoming a legendary figure in the Chinese Basketball Association.

Le’Veon Bell and Adam Gase

Photo credit Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

We don’t have to scroll too far back into the history books for the latest notable Jets feud. Bell was supposed to represent a franchise-changing signing for Gang Green, having been brought over on a four-year, $52.5 million deal in 2019 just months after Gase was hired.

The relationship between Gase and Bell didn’t start out well, to say the least. Gase was reportedly frustrated with the Bell signing in the first place, believing the team spent too much to get the three-time Pro Bowler. As Bell’s first season unfolded, it became clear that the team’s efforts to boost the offensive line in front of Bell had failed, with Bell averaging just 3.2 yards carry in 2019 and finishing the season with 789 rushing yards, nearly half of his production from each of his previous two seasons with the Steelers.

The Jets produced the NFL’s worst expected yards per carry in Bell’s first season, and his tenure with the team would only get worse.

The Jets brought in veteran running back Frank Gore prior to last season, and Gore seemed to have the affection of Gase, his former coach with the Dolphins. Gase and Bell’s relationship took another deteriorating step in August of 2020, when Bell was pulled from an intrasquad scrimmage for Gore due to hamstring tightness. Bell quickly took to Twitter to dispute that diagnosis, saying “ain’t nothing wrong with my hamstrings” and “it’s tough to stay loose when you do a bunch of standing around…& I’m used to GOINGGG.”

Bell didn’t do much “going” once the season got started. Issues with his usage continued to arise, and after Bell liked numerous tweets questioning his lack of touches, he was released. Gase refused to go into detail regarding Bell’s usage after the release, and by the time the season was over, they were both gone, as Gase was fired following a 2-14 finish. Bell wound up in the Super Bowl with Kansas City.

Matt Harvey and the Mets

Photo credit Jason Miller/Getty Images

Harvey came to the Mets with plenty of hype as the seventh overall pick out of North Carolina in the 2010 MLB Draft, and just five short years later, The Dark Knight appeared poised to exceed that hype. Instead, injuries and late nights took over his Gotham tenure.

The Mets were the talk of the city in 2015 when Harvey helped lead New York to an unexpected World Series appearance, bouncing back from Tommy John surgery and blowing past an 180-inning cap that Harvey’s agent Scott Boras wanted his client to follow in an effort to save his arm from further injury. The Mets left it up to Harvey, who continued to take the ball and took it again in game five of the World Series. With the Mets facing elimination, Harvey threw eight brilliant innings before Terry Collins tried to take him out, and after a tirade from Harvey, Collins kept him in. That decision didn’t work out, as New York blew the lead and lost the series, and not much else worked out with Harvey and the Mets after that.

Injuries crept back up for Harvey in 2016, and so did his off-the-field concerns. Harvey had shown up late for a workout before the NLDS in 2015, and by 2017, he was a no-show for the Mets’ game against the Marlins in May, claiming to have a migraine. But it was revealed Harvey had been out until the early-morning hours celebrating Cinco de Mayo, leading to a lashing from Collins and a suspension. More injuries followed that season, and he was designated for assignment in 2018. The Dark Knight left Gotham more banged up than Batman after his first fight with Bane, and questions of what could have been still linger around Citi Field.

Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez

Photo credit Patrick Smith/Getty Images

We’ll end with one of the most highly-documented relationships in New York sports history, with Jeter and Rodriguez seeing their dynamic decline from best friends to awkward acquaintances.

Jeter and Rodriguez met in the early 1990s, shortly after Jeter was drafted by the Yankees. By the time Rodriguez and Jeter reached stardom levels, they were the closest of friends, rooming together when their teams played each other on the road and even joking around with each other during an on-field scrum between the Yanks and Mariners.

By 2000, Jeter was on top of the sports world, winning four World Series and a World Series MVP, while Rodriguez was a generational superstar that longed for Jeter’s team accolades. He signed a mega-contract with the Rangers before his now infamous comments began to surface. He told ESPN Radio that Jeter wasn’t a likely candidate to surpass his record-setting contract because Jeter “just doesn’t do the power numbers and defensively he doesn’t do all those things.”

Jeter’s name came up again when Rodriguez considered Jeter to be blessed by the talent around him, and even went as far to say that teams don’t go up against the Yankees worried about stopping Jeter, instead focusing on bats like Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill. For Jeter, who is now known for swiftly freezing out those who wrong him, that was it for their friendship, but it would get a lot more awkward.

Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees prior to the 2004 season, with Rodriguez agreeing to move to third base to avoid further rift with Jeter, now a franchise legend. Jeter didn’t look all that thrilled at Rodriguez’s introductory press conference, and looked even less thrilled in 2009 when he came to Rodriguez’s press conference where A-Rod formally admitted to using steroids. In between were staredowns after a dropped pop fly and multiple early playoff exits.

Alex redeemed himself in the form of a torrid 2009 postseason that got Jeter his fifth ring, and things appeared to calm between the two stars. But there were more playoff collapses in years after and more steroid accusations for Rodriguez, and the rift between the two clearly wasn’t over by 2017, when both agreed to a CNBC interview, not knowing it would be together. Neither looked like they wanted to be there, with Jeter reportedly angry after the interview. A far fall from being periodic roommates two decades prior.

Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1

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