With all the talk about whether Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace are "stand up guys," it got me thinking about how many Carolina players I have pretty much despised over the years. Honestly, I could come up with more than 10. But here are mine:
10. Kris Lang - He was Hansbrough before there was Hansbrough. Big, horse-faced, clumsy, travelling white dude. Difference is, he's much less talented than Hansbrough, so he's also farther down this list. But his attitude stunk and he was on a UNC team that faced Duke in its down years.
9. Jason Capel - He was the "evil" Capel. Always scowling. Showing off after dunks. Dirty fouls. Where are you now, evil Capel? Oh, announcing basketball games. Great. Another UNC-biased commentator.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Capel
8. Dante Calabria - Stinkin, runty little Italian guy. Always hit the dagger three. Also was a hit with the ladies. Mostly hated him for his successes. And his stupid haircut.
7. Mahktar N'diaye - Hard to hate someone as bad at the game as he was, but he was just a downright mean guy. Dirty player, always trying to start trouble. Plus, his name conjures up images of Worf from "Star Trek: Next Generation."
6. JR Reid - Ah, kickin' it old school. I remember the dumb flat top and the thuggish style of play. Then I remember him thugging it out even more in the NBA. Maybe the "JR can't read" chants got to him...
5. Joe Forte - Cocky, classless. Thought he was a WAY better player than he really was (though he wasn't bad). Poor work ethic. Ball hog. Only redeeming value - he was a dud in the NBA. Welcome to irrelvance, Joe. Population: you.
4. Vince Carter - Tremendous leaper. Also a tremendous jerk. Volatile personality. Also tanked a season on purpose to get traded from Toronto.
3. Rashad McCants - Some defend his work ethic, but to me, when you sell out a coach who loved his school as much as Matt Doherty loved his school, then you suck. Poor attitude, appeared to play when he "felt like it", poor teammate, and ball hog. Maybe he's maturing now... but it's easy to be mature when you get shots and minutes in the obscurity of Minnesota. If that team ever gets better, and McCants finds out that you need to play defense to stay in a rotation, we'll see how mature he's become.
2. Rasheed Wallace - The tantrums. The whining. The constant "who me?" expressions. The funny little bald spot. The occasional laissez-faire approach to the college game. The arrests. The verbal threats to players and refs. Playing for the JailBlazers, then the Pistons. Acting like a jerk to me in Sears in Durham. Yea, I have a lot of reasons not to like this dude. It didn't help that he was a great player and always had his best games against Duke. You hate to see jerks like that succeed.
1. Jerry "Mortal Kombat" Stackhouse - Same kind of attitude as 'Sheed, but tended to have more bite than bark. Has been in more fights (at least 4) than all-star games (2). Dirty, dirty player who also whines about OTHER players playing dirty. There's a reason he's been traded so many times - because he's an azz. It was basically a toss up between him and 'Sheed.
Dis-honorable mention:
Shammond Williams
Donald Williams
Jeff McInnis
Rick Fox
Brendan Haywood
Julius Peppers (who I happen to like as a football player)
Hansbrough (plays too hard to hate too much)
Danny Green (working his way up the list)