Off the backs of the Nick Young/D’Angelo Russell story, which we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg of, we recognize that D’Angelo Russell’s not the first snake in NBA history, and hopefully won’t be the last.
5. Jason Richardson
Most of these are going to be “he slept with his wife/girlfriend” type scenarios. Because that’s what happens in the NBA, they all sleep around.
The Jason Richardson/ Steve Nash story’s one of the more bizarre tales you’ll hear. It’s rumored that Steve and his wife were expecting their third child. There were some rumors that she made have had an affair, but that fizzled well before the birth. Then she pops out the sucker, and it’s half black. Jason Richardson’s baby.
After, there were pictures of the baby that seemed to prove it wasn’t Richardson’s, but Nash filed for divorce almost immediately after the birth of the baby, and Richardson was traded within weeks. It’s one thing to sleep with your star player’s wife. It’s a whole other animal to knock her up, and not say anything the entire 9 months.
4. George Karl
If you play for George Karl and don’t tweet “Snakes in the Grass”, did you really even play for George Karl?
Whether it’s on the court decisions, or in the locker room stuff, there’s a great disdain between about 95% of guys who’ve played for Karl and the man himself. Snake without a doubt.
3. D’Angelo Russell
Am I being influenced because it just happened?
Yes, but this will remain in the annuls of history as a gigantic snake moment. We have it all covered over here, but more has come out since then. Apparently, all the Lakers are isolating Russell, refusing to sit next to him and even talk to him.
Social media will be a killer for guys trying to mess around moving forward. Good for society, bad for guys like Swaggy P.
(Update: I want to take all of this back about D’Angelo. It looks more and more like he’s truthfully sorry, and never wanted this to happen. He was teary eyed describing his friendship with Swaggy. Remains on here for now, but not for history.)
2. Lebron James
Moving away from your hometown city, that’s invested probably every penny they had into marketing you, was the single biggest snake move of all time. Any time the number one pick goes to their hometown, strings were pulled. Ewing to the Knicks. Rose to the Bulls. Bron to the Cavs. The NBA’s a business, they know what they’re doing.
So for them to do alllllll of that, then you go move to Miami, win some championships, come back, and start toying with their hearts again? Signing one year contracts, sending cryptic messages, being caught on audio with Wade that you’re coming back to South Beach if things don’t work out? Nuh uh, snake in the grass man. Killing off coach after coach doesn’t help (Tyronn Lue will be gone before July).
Even if you’re just snaking a city like Cleveland, you’re still a snake.
1. Kobe Bryant
Two of the top three snakes being on the Lakers’ roster’s not a great look.
Kobe’s not been the greatest teammate through illustrious career, on and off the court. The entire Shaq feud was fueled when Kobe told a reporter off-video that Shaq had paid up to $1 million dollars in hush money to several different women over the years. And at that time, Kobe was in no place to say that. Shaq brought him three titles, and Shaq won the Finals MVP over him. Biting the hand that feeds him.
That’s bad enough. Further, Kobe canoodled Karl Malone’s wife. The legendary, Hall of Famer Karl Malone. Kobe’s bold, I’ll give the guy that, but that’s snake material. Lamarcus Aldridge felt snaked by Kobe over the summer (when Kobe would barely meet with him), and LA never even played in LA!
There’s not enough time to go through the litany of times Kobe’s showed up his teammates on the court, off the court, in practice (“These mother(truckers) are soft as Charmin”), and just in life. Kobe takes the cake for biggest snake in NBA history. But he wouldn’t want it any other way. He’s embraced the “Mamba” nickname for a reason…
Crossover Report 