Originally Posted by
JohnDThompson
It doesn't hurt the bearings on drill presses or lathes when you use the wedges to remove the chuck, so I doubt it would hurt your bottom bracket bearings.
I myself would be surprised to see any bearing damage from that method, but some bottom brackets have quite better/worse durability than others, and some crankarms are stuck so tight as to invite tool breakage.
FWIW, I've seen some bb bearings survive heavy hammering of a cotter pin with no visible or apparent damage.