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Some of the best feuds in sports happened right here in Philly. Here’s a look at 10 of them.

From athlete beefs to the front office rifts, we didn’t need to go back too far to find these top feuds over the years.

James Harden sits between Daryl Morey (left), Josh Harris, and Doc Rivers (far right) during a press conference formally introducing both him and Paul Millsap on Feb. 15, 2022.
James Harden sits between Daryl Morey (left), Josh Harris, and Doc Rivers (far right) during a press conference formally introducing both him and Paul Millsap on Feb. 15, 2022.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

Earlier this summer, 76ers guard James Harden had a falling out with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey. But that was far from the first time a player bit the hand that fed him here in Philadelphia.

And it’s safe to assume that it won’t be the last.

There is no love lost between the two as Harden has expressed his desire to leave Philly with Morey being a big reason why. Harden even went as far as calling Morey “a liar,” taking issue with his trade talks — or a lack thereof.

What this latest beef did, however, was remind us of a number of memorable feuds in Philly sports. We didn’t need to go back too far to find 10 other top ones over the years.

10. Donovan McNabb vs. Eagles fans

It’s no secret that fans were not happy to welcome McNabb to town in 1999 when the fan contingent called the “Dirty 30″ booed his announcement as the No. 2 pick in the 1999 NFL Draft. McNabb’s career in Philly made him a bit more beloved after leading the Eagles to multiple divisional titles and even the Super Bowl in 2004, but it’s always been a love-hate relationship. It appears fans finally came around at his jersey retirement in 2013, as he was showered with cheers when he famously announced that “No. 5 will always love you” to a crowd on hand to watch the Birds in a Thursday Night Football game at the Linc.

While his relationship with fans was rocky in Philly, it doesn’t top the major bad blood he had with a former teammate. More on that later…

9. Allen Iverson vs. Phil Jasner

OK, so this one wasn’t a feud as much as it spawned a legendary rant, but the relationship between Daily News Hall of Fame writer Phil Jasner and Sixers legend Allen Iverson was the kind of push-pull that had an equal amount of criticism as it did praise. It was Jasner who was among the reporter contingent questioning Iverson’s work ethic that sparked the ever-popular “Practice” rant, but it was also Jasner, who passed in 2010, that Iverson made a point to honor when both were announced as headed for enshrinement into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

“I wish Phil Jasner could be here right now. I know he’s looking down on me, and I know he’s smiling right now. We had our ups and downs, we had our little rifts. But now he’s a Hall of Famer (with me).”

Iverson is back in this countdown later for his beef with someone else he also later showered praise on.

8. Philly vs. the Dallas Cowboys

It’s not a feud but a hatred that is taught in this city as soon as you’re able to comprehend. Former Eagles head coach Andy Reid once said, “It doesn’t matter how many games you win, as long as you don’t lose to the Cowboys.” Reid was born in Los Angeles and even he knows that when it comes to Dallas — the football team, not the actual city itself — there is no love lost. Unless you are a UFC fighter or just have gorilla-thick skin, wearing a Cowboys jersey on gameday is a Cardinal sin. One Eagles fans will make you pay for dearly.

Can we explain it? Nope. It just is what it is.

7. Curt Shilling vs. Mitch Williams

As a Phillies fan, you either loved Curt Schilling or you detested him. Perhaps the one person who chose the latter would be former Phillies closer Mitch Williams, who got into a back-and-forth media tirade in the aftermath of the 1993 World Series. Williams accused Schilling of placing all the blame on him for the loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Schilling would later counter, according to a Chicago Tribune report, telling reporters in December of that year that he and Williams “didn’t get along from the first day,” adding that “he didn’t show me any respect, so I never showed him any respect.”

But if Williams’ tiff with Schilling was a lit match, then his beef at No. 6 was a straight-up bonfire.

6. Mitch Williams vs. Lenny Dykstra

Look up the word “loathe” in the dictionary and you just might find a picture of “Wild Thing” and “Nails” going at it. These two have had a legendary beef brewed in baseball that has gone on for decades, with the latest blow-up coming in a 2013 roast that went way beyond just laughs. What’s believed to be the root cause of their hatred for each other? Many say it’s what stirred the feud between Williams and Schilling — Wild Thing’s blown save in the 1993 World Series.

5. Eric Lindros vs. the Flyers organization

There’s not enough space in this report to explain the twisted, tangled mess that was former Flyers captain Eric Lindros’ final few seasons with the Flyers. From his recurring beef with then-Flyers GM Bobby Clarke, to Lindros’ family asserting that Clarke tried to kill their son, this is a feud best told by those who were there. Fortunately, we dug up this Inquirer report from 2000 that explains it all in harmonic detail.

4. Howard Eskin vs. [insert name here]

There’s beef that surfaces in the media and then there’s media that stirs beef. Sports radio personality Howard Eskin has been the latter. His feuds with athletes have been well-documented, but few compare to his rift with former Phillies pitcher Jonathan Papelbon. The two allegedly had to be separated in the Phillies clubhouse in 2014. Yikes.

3. Allen Iverson vs. Larry Brown

These two. Larry and AI would fight, hit the silent treatment button, and then make-up. Rinse and repeat over almost a decade together with Brown as head coach of the Sixers. Despite reports that cited AI demanding a trade and Brown wanting to resign given all the toxicity, together, the two took the Sixers as far as they’ve gotten in the last 20-plus years, the 2001 NBA Finals. Just like Jasner, AI made a point to later say that Brown was the best coach he ever played for, and Brown has stated that he was “put on this Earth to coach Allen Iverson.”

2. Ben Simmons vs. Sixers

Ben Simmons had all the love here in Philly — until he didn’t. His desire to be traded from the Sixers and the Sixers’ inability to find a deal caused one of the most agonizing offseasons — and preseasons — in recent memory. Simmons drew the ire of an entire fanbase and team, namely Sixers star Joel Embiid, who said the on-court love for Simmons had “run its course” and that the situation with Simmons was “weird, disappointing, borderline kind of disrespectful to other guys that are out here fighting for their lives.

1. Terrell Owens vs. Everybody

There is not a more iconic memory than seeing former Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens doing situps in his Moorestown, N.J., driveway, posturing for another team to pick him up because he wanted out of Philly.

It was the best of times, watching him and McNabb lead the Eagles to its first Super Bowl appearance in 24 years. It was the worst of times seeing those two eventually despise each other with T.O. vowing to never play with McNabb ever again, a hatred that still stands as Owens told Shannon Sharpe on a podcast in 2021. He told the former NFL tight end that he’d fight McNabb if he had a chance to box anyone.

“I’m dead serious, Shannon, I’ll knock him out,” Owens said. “Because there would be so much pent-up (rage).”

Wow. No love lost there, it would appear.