If you want to make someone pay you hit them where it hurts, which in this day and age tends to mean you yank money out of their pockets.

By now we all know what’s going on with Maria Sharapova, Nike suspending her $70 million sponsorship deal and TAG Heuer and Porsche following suit.

She isn’t the only athlete to have angered the Nike big dogs though, so we’ll run through four other big names whose bank accounts have taken a battering due to various indiscretions.

Note to the Nike reps out there – you guys don’t seem to be getting this whole endorsement thing right, I guess it’s only a matter of time before more names are added to this list.

These below from Entrepreneur:

Oscar Pistorius

The South African paralympic runner inspired millions when he competed in sprint events at the 2012 Summer Olympics on two prosthetic legs, and so a partnership with Nike was a natural fit. Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the story. On Valentine’s Day 2013, the double-amputee shot and killed his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, after an argument.

Lance Armstrong

After it was proven that the champion cyclist’s victories were due, at least in part, to illegal doping, Nike had this to say:

“Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him. Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner.”

Though the company originally said it would continue to support Livestrong, the charity Armstrong founded, it would go on to drop that partnership as well.

Michael Vick

Nike inked a deal with Michael Vick in 2001, very early in the quarterback’s professional career. Six years later, when Vick was convicted for participating in an illegal dog fighting ring, Nike released him from his contract. After serving a prison sentence and returning to the NFL, Nike entered into another agreement with Vick in 2011.

“Michael acknowledges his past mistakes,” Nike said at the time. “We do not condone those actions, but we support the positive changes he has made to better himself off the field.”

Manny Pacquiao 

The athletics company recently ended its relationship with Manny Pacquiao, following the boxer’s homophobic comments on Philippine television. In a statement, Nike said it found his statements “abhorrent.”

Now as our bonus fifth name we’ll go a little outside the box here and go with Tiger Woods, who signed a $40 million deal as a 19-year-old back in 1996. Here’s the first official advert they produced featuring the golfer:

Despite the cheating scandal that has all but ended Tiger’s career, Nike has stuck by the golfer, which proves that some names are just too big to cut from the roster.

[source:entrepeneur]