Bad Boys

They are a part of every sport - players that have a reputation for being troublemakers off the field, problems in the locker room or for that matter, trouble on the field.

Teams must always weigh the decision whether the problems on and off the court will be worth the wins, public relations nightmares and negative fan reaction to signing or trading for such a player.

One of the players in the "ESPN Era" that started this would be John Rocker. After making inflammatory comments in a Sports Illustrated piece he was basically run out of baseball. Nobody wanted the sign the former Braves closer for fear of the fans reaction. Another great example is Barry Bonds. The Home Run King was ridiculed in every place he played because of his alleged steroid use. The only place he was welcomed with open arms was in his home city of San Francisco. Even the Giants organization though, turned their back on Bonds when his contract expired and since no other team wanted the negativity that came with signing Bonds, he has been sitting on the sidelines for two seasons, just waiting to help some team.

Most recently, the example that exemplifies this is Milton Bradley. He has bounced around from team to team, alienating fans, pissing off the home town media and basically making a spectacle of himself. In the past couple of weeks, The Toronto Blue Jays have been linked to Bradley. This move would no doubt help the team become a contender in the American League East. It would allow them to move the power of Adam Lind to first base and put a power hitting outfielder in right field daily instead of platooning good defensive, but light hitting players. The Jays, with a young General Manager looking to make his mark might opt for a bold move like bringing in Bradley, but the Toronto faithful have never really been exposed to a player like him and he might make the GM's first move a bust.

The NBA has also had its share of bad boys and one of them got dealt yesterday - Stephen Jackson. S-Jax to his friends, Jackson was traded from the Warriors to the Bobcats. This comes after Jackson talked poorly about the organization and his coach, Don Nelson. So why would Charlotte welcome him? If he can help them squeeze into the playoffs then he is someone worth having on the roster. His impact is being felt immediately as he STARTED last night for the 'Cats, finishing with 13 points and 9 rebounds. That just shows you the talent he brings to the table.

Other players in a similar situation recently have included Ron Artest, Stephon Marbury and Rasheed Wallace. All of these players have talent, it just takes the right situation (think Dennis Rodman with the Chicago Bulls) to be able to harness their energy and passion for the game and allow them to flourish.

Can you think of other bad boys? Would you bring a notorious bad boy to help your team win?