Nothing keeps a sports team’s chemistry up quite like winning games. Of course, winning isn’t the only thing that helps athletes get comfortable around one another.
Sometimes — especially on April Fool’s Day — the best way to do so is to make everybody laugh.
Athletes are at an advantage over others, when it comes to pranking. Athletes have time, resources and (in some cases) money that most others don’t, and this has led to some truly memorable pranks going down. This is especially true of baseball, where a loose dugout atmosphere can lead to high-key hijinks.
As numerous as good baseball pranks have been, those guys aren’t the only ones having all the fun. Here are some of my favorite professional sports pranks from over the years, including some that actually did happen on April Fools’ Day.
FISTICUFFS
Today is the 13th anniversary of the night Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban fought a referee during a game against the New Orleans Hornets.
How did Cuban get out of that one with his reputation intact?
Simple: the outspoken businessman and TV star had hired an actor to portray an NBA referee and, during the game, react to a confrontation. During a timeout, Cuban got in the actor’s face and shoved him, and the two began wrestling.
“We did it, and I remember thinking, I hope this doesn’t crater,” Cuban later told the Dallas Morning News. “When I stood up and there was the first shove, I could hear the whole place gasp. Then we went at it, and I could hear everybody going nuts. Then I started laughing and blew it.”
DATING GAME
Another legendary basketball prank happened in the 2004-05 season, when Los Angeles Lakers rookie Tony Bobbitt tried to big-time his teammates by telling them actress Lucy Liu was interested in dating him and had attended games just to see him.
The Lakers veterans called Bobbitt’s bluff and set up an elaborate prank. They recruited a ball boy to give Bobbitt a note with Liu’s cell phone number — which was really center Vlade Divac’s.
Bobbitt left “Liu” plenty of voicemails and texts for the vets to laugh over. They later had Bobbitt picked up by limousine and brought to a restaurant, for what he thought was a date with Liu. In reality, the entire Lakers squad was there, laughing at him.
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
It’s also the eighth anniversary of Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen’s “arrest” while in college.
In 2008, University of Southern California head coach Pete Carroll quietly arranged for some police officers to interrupt a team film room session and put Griffen in handcuffs. Griffen agreed to play along, and the rest of the Trojans were not informed. After Griffen was led off by the police, his “crime” was explained to the team: abuse of a freshman.
Carroll then played a video of Griffen putting a hard hit on freshman tackle Matt Meyer during a team practice.
HOW’S DINNER?
Ken Griffey Jr. is best-known as one of the greatest baseball players that ever lived, using the sweetest swing the game has ever seen to put up clean numbers in the “Steroid Era.” But he also had a reputation as a practical joker.
My favorite Griffey story happened in 1995, when Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella bet him that he couldn’t hit three home runs on three pitches. The prize was a steak dinner, and Griffey accepted. He lost.
Not long after that happened, Piniella entered his office in the Mariners clubhouse and stood face-to-face with a cow. It’s probably the most expensive “steak” Griffey ever bought.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.