Jerry Rice attends the Fanatics Fest NYC 2024 at Jacob Javits Center on Aug. 17, 2024, in New York.
Rob Kim/Getty Images for Fanatics
When Giants legend Barry Bonds and 49ers legend Jerry Rice met at midcourt to kick off the action for the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, where the two were squaring off as coaches, the contrived trash talk session got personal quick between the Bay Area greats when Rice roasted Bonds for his lack of team success.
“So how many rings do you have?” Rice asked, earning a noticeable gasp of shock from the crowd Friday at the Oakland Arena and stunning Bonds.
Article continues below this ad
A local crowd knew quite well that Rice won three Super Bowls with the 49ers, while Bonds never won a championship in his 22-year MLB career. The all-time home run king came agonizingly close with the Giants in 2002, as San Francisco blew a 3-2 series lead — and a 5-0 seventh-inning lead in Game 6 — to lose to the Angels in Bonds’ lone World Series appearance.
It all began with a midcourt chest bump from Rice to Bonds, leading ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth to ask whether the two were “cool,” which both answered affirmatively. But then Bonds decided to use his local origins as a point of pride against Rice, who grew up in Mississippi.
“I’m a hometown boy, we just rented him,” Bonds said with a smile. “We borrowed Jerry, he’s not from the Bay Area, I’m from the Bay. We’re gonna win.”
Rice stared back stone-faced at Bonds, with a look that matched how much his competitive juices were flowing on Friday — even though he wasn’t playing, the best receiver in football history spent much of the pregame shooting jumpers as if he were warming up to play. After Bonds offered his trash talk, Rice fired back viciously with the rings question, and even repeated the question a second time.
Article continues below this ad
To his credit, Bonds delivered a disarming retort: “I have two divorce rings,” that got the crowd roaring with laughter and had both Bay Area legends doubling over. Bonds ended up getting the last laugh, too: his team beat Rice’s squad 66-55.
Feb 14, 2025
