5 major NBA players whose off-court lives were marred by controversy

#3 Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley and Isiah Thomas present Chris Webber during the 2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony.

Charles Barkley was one of the greatest NBA players ever to have graced the game, as the undersized power forward managed to be a dominant force in the league constantly, even winning an NBA MVP award.

His playing career was great on the court, earning unique accolades and arguably falling short of an NBA title due to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls' brilliance during the 1990s.

However, Barkley was involved in several controversies off the court and has been heavily criticized for it. To be fair, he's owned several of those controversies recently and has admitted he learned from them and hasn't been looking for excuses.

LeBron James, a player who's been criticized by Barkley in comments made on the NBA's biggest show, Inside the NBA, made some public comments four years ago about Barkley's off-court life.

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Spitting on a kid was definitely low for Barkley, while other controversies have included him fighting fans in road arenas, as he's admitted in his widely known comments from Inside the NBA.

His "I'm not a role model" commercial with Nike from 1993 also created lots of controversy regarding Barkley, but it just shows how honest he can be. To be fair, he has a point on what he says in that commercial too, though it might be raw.

#2 Karl Malone

Grand Marshal/NBA Hall of Famer, Karl Malone delivers the starting command during pre-race ceremonies for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Karl Malone is also one of the best power forwards in NBA history and another 'victim' of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, as Malone's Utah Jazz fell twice in the NBA Finals against the Bulls' dynastic team.

A two-time NBA MVP and the second-leading scorer in NBA history with 36,927 career points, Malone was definitely brilliant on the court. However, he had some off-court affairs that are often remembered by NBA fans even today.

Malone was one of the players who spoke out against the possibility of Magic Johnson playing in the 1992 All-Star after he had tested positive for HIV, although it seemed like a matter of ignorance on the topic rather than something with evil intentions.

One of the biggest controversies about Malone's off-court life comes from an affair he had with a 13-year-old girl, Gloria Bell, when he was a 20-year-old and was playing basketball at Louisiana Tech. Malone had a non-existent relationship with his son, Demetress Bell, until the former NBA player and former NFL player came together in 2014.

Bell played in the NFL from 2008 to 2013 and has admitted, to the Deseret News, how his relationship with Malone started:

“He came to the house, we sat down and talked about everything and how it was and put it behind us and we’ve been on an up-and-up ever since. The first thing we did was went on a hunting trip to Utah. That was the first thing we did as a father-son around 2014."

Malone himself talked about his relationship not only with Bell, but also with twins Cheryl and Daryl Ford:

“Getting that relationship with them, I was wrong, they wasn’t,” Malone said. “I made a mistake, they’re not a mistake, but being young myself and the responsibilities was overwhelming to me, but you just deal with it. I didn’t handle it right; I was wrong, but I’m not going to every time I see you try to go back and make up for it because you can’t.”

#1 Dennis Rodman

Former Detroit Pistons Dennis Rodman and Isiah Thomas pose with three Larry O'Brien championship trophies.

This one is a no-brainer. Dennis Rodman is the single most controversial NBA figure outside the basketball court, and he was also a particular one inside the court.

Rodman, a basketball Hall-of-Famer, five-time NBA champion and surely one of the greatest rebounders and defenders in league history, had a crazy life outside the court, and it remains even today.

Rodman had big controversies throughout his playing career, such as making racial comments about Larry Bird, marrying himself, having a short-lived affair with Madonna and marrying Carmen Electra.

As a member of the 'Bad Boy' Detroit Pistons, Rodman was definitely hated by rivals for his and the team's use of physical display to minimize opposing teams. But that was clearly left behind given how Rodman's career and life evolved in the 1990s.

Rodman's on-court affairs also involved suspensions for head-butting a referee and kicking a cameraman during a game. More recently, Rodman became friends with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and was even coaching basketball players in North Korea.

Also read: Looking at the 5 major Big 3s in NBA history that could've been great, but didn't play together long enough