Inappropriate Jerseys

After talking about breaking out my Barkley Phoenix jersey to celebrate the Suns appearance in the Western Conference finals, my friend Mark tried to tell me that this was not cool.  He asserted that the player had to be from the current team roster in order to properly display fandom.  I started thinking about this, for example, wearing a Shawn Kemp jersey to support the Thunder or rocking the all-to-common Jordan jersey to cheer for the Bulls, and I decided there are some cases where all is good in jersey-world.  There are however, some instances of jerseys that should be discarded immediately, if not burned (or kept around for irony's sake)  Here are a few examples:

1. Vince Carter: Toronto Raptors

Possibly one of, if not the worst, instance of a player totally screwing over his own team; he literally just decided not to play.  This decreased his trade value, since other teams in the league knew he wanted to leave and his stats were well below what they would have been had he been playing with at least a little effort.  His name just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

2. Gilbert Arenas: Washington Bullets

This one needs no explanation whatsoever. 

3. Eric Lindros: Quebec Nordiques

The one redeeming thing about Lindros refusing to play for the Nordiques, was that it brought Quebec players they needed to win a cup down the road.  Unlike the Vince Carter situation, Lindros was considered a marquee player, and teams were fighting against each other for a crack at him.  Let's just look at what Quebec (eventually Colorado when they would win the Cup) received for him:

Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, Chris Simon, Kerry Huffman, Steve Duchesne, two first-round picks (one used to select Jocelyn Thibault) and $15 million.

Ridiculous.  But still, publicly refusing to play for a team that was not a contender is a shitty thing to do. After all, where does a #1 pick expect to end up?

4. Terrell Owens: Philadelphia Eagles

I wouldn't recommend wearing an Owens jersey for any team, he's simply one of the biggest assholes in professional sports. With all the bitching he did about the Eagles' team, including criticizing his own quarterback and the organization, it's no wonder he was booed upon his return to Philadelphia with the Cowboys.

5. Manny Ramirez: Boston Red Sox

Wasn't quite sure to put Manny or Damon on the list, both Sox jumped ship for more loot.  It all depends on what you think is worse: leaving a team for more money and joining the cross-town rivals, or faking a knee injury, making ridiculous demands, and pushing a 64 year-old man.  I give the slight edge to Manny.