For many sports fans, the locker room is the final frontier. We know it exists but we don’t always have an understanding of what happens in them. Most days, they’re probably rather boring and business-like. But every now and then some wild and crazy stories leak from pro sports locker rooms, particularly in the NBA. Perhaps you’ve heard these stories before, but if not, it’s about time you heard this wild, behind-the-scenes stories from NBA locker rooms.
Kobe and Dwight Throw Down
Dwight Howard has always had trouble getting along with teammates, and that includes the late Kobe Bryant during his first stint with the Lakers. Kobe didn’t think Dwight was taking things seriously enough, leading to a locker room confrontation on New Year’s Day 2013. Fortunately, teammates intervened before punches were thrown. The tension didn’t exactly fade away, although the two made light of the incident in a posed photo.
Fight Fire with Fists
Losing isn’t easy, and after the New York Knicks went down 2-0 to the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, Amar’e Stoudemire took out his frustration by punching a fire extinguisher sitting behind glass in the locker room. Stoudemire cut up his hand in the process and required stitches, forcing him to miss Game 3 of the series. When Stoudemire fouled out of Game 5, Miami’s PA announcer said that he had been extinguished, a clever pun to coincide with the Heat winning the series.
Clippers and Rockets in the Tunnel
Technically, this happened in a secret tunnel between two locker rooms, but it’s wild nonetheless. There’s a lot of tension between the Clippers and Rockets these days, and a lot of it dates back to the trade between the teams involving Chris Paul. When Paul returned to L.A. for the first time after being traded to Houston, he and his new Rockets teammates had some words for his former Clippers teammates after the game. From his time with the Clippers, Paul knew a secret tunnel to get into the other locker room. However, security was able to cut them off before it happened.
Gilbert’s Got a Gun
For the record, this isn’t funny at all. Former Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton were in the team’s locker room playing cards on Christmas Eve 2009 when there was a disagreement over gambling debts. Both players became irate and pulled out a gun that they pointed at the other. It’s suspected that neither gun was loaded, although that doesn’t make the incident any safer, especially for the other players in the locker room who didn’t know that. Both players were subsequently suspended for the rest of the season and charged with violating Washington D.C.’s local gun-control laws.
Romance is in the Air
We all know that Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra had a wild and crazy relationship. But we didn’t think things got wild and crazy and the Bulls’ practice facility. In April 2020, Electra admitted that Rodman once brought her to the team’s practice facility when the Bulls had an off day and the two had “relations” all over the place. She specifically named the practice court, physical therapy room, and weight room. Somehow, nobody knew about it until 20 years later.
