Great Le Batard article on Lebron Hatred with Poll

[il_knicks7]

Saying that LeBron gets hated on social media because people think they get to him and that LeBron cares IS trolling. Yeah, because millions of people making fun of him go on twitter thinking, "I am gonna be in LeBron's head if I make a joke at his expense but I can't do the same for MJ or Kobe".

Great armchair psychology. I guarantee you if Kobe's rape trial happened in 2014 instead of 2004 and if MJ was punching his teammates or going gambling the night before a playoff game in 2014 they would get roasted. Absolutely demolished.

I said they think Lebron cares and this NOT trolling in any way, shape or form.

Second part - the reaction would be different. They would get "roasted" but not in the same way. In any case, I think we've taken this as far as it can go.

[Alex Trevelyan]

People make this more complicated than it is. LeBron is hated because LeBron is great. If someone is successful, it generates contempt. Humans are rationalizing creatures. We will invent rationales for loathing someone. In some instances hate is justifiable. If you dislike Kim Kardashian or Kobe Bryant, there are myriad reasons to do so quite rationally. In many instances it is absurd. I cannot generate contempt for Tim Duncan, or Manu Ginobili no matter what I do. The worst I can say about Manu is he's a flopper! And in the pantheon of hate, that is weak tea indeed. We often put the cart before the horse psychologically. We start with the hate, then invent a reason for it later.

[+ Kyle +]

Ehh I see it as a bunch of fans of players who are worried LeBron is surpassing their favorite player. Kobe fans are the perfect example, I feel they're worried that LeBron is better than Kobe ever was, so they just rip on him. I also just see it as people joining the party and bashing him to "fit" in lol. I'm on another forum and no one used to bash him and then a couple people started and now everyone does it because the others did it. It's the internet mindset, like hey let me join in on this. You see it on the GB a lot when someone responds to a thread with something troll-like and everyone else just follows their lead and the whole thread turns into a troll thread. That literally happened to the whole internet with LeBron lol, everything turned into a "troll thread". Pretty sad really.

[Picklewagon]

Many people hate Lebron because they are butthurt he didn't join their team. Many other people hate him because they can't think for themselves, join the mob mentality and eat up everything the media feeds them. These same media guys who are also butthurt as bulls, celtics and Knicks fans.

I don't buy, however that people hate him cause of the decision. I think people use it as a convenient crutch so they don't have to admit their real motives as being selfish, petty and just plain old butthurt. If people were mad because of the decision, there would of been outrage as soon as he announced he was going to do it. But there wasn't. Nobody said an ill word until after the decision. It wasn't until after the decision that people decided to use it as their crutch.

I also think that many people hated Lebron well before the decision but kept their irrational feelings hidden until they could find a reason to show them without seeming petty and selfish. The decision was convenient for them.

The guy has never been in any trouble with the law, he never demanded a trade while in the middle of a playoff chase, sabotaging his teams chances(melo) and he's always been the consummate teammate. The worse thing he's ever done netted the boys and girls club millions of dollars.

The problem is not with Lebron, it's with the people who's irrational driven hatred and petty bitterness are at the forefront of their motives

[Altered_Beast]

here is my unpopular opinion

i believe that the hatred towards lebron is multi layered

at the top layer its mostly jealousy. fans of other teams jealous that he chose miami over their team

second layer is the irrational belief from some fans that claim 3 superstars on a team is not fair when in reality most teams that win an nba championship have multiple all stars and it has been this way for decades

at the bottom layer is where things IMO get ugly. from what ive seen these last few years as well as read the majority of people who dislike lebron are white. minorities have lebrons back, even the black folks in cleveland forgave lebron in a relatively short amount of time. i think theres a sort of sub conscious racism that stemmed from the decision. a black man holding power over his future where typically a white man wouldve had a say in where he played. he chose to play in probably the least anglo high profile city in america minus LA and NY. most people not from miami see this place almost as part of a different country. miami has the highest percentage of residents of people born in a different country. even espn in their promos of heat games always shoo in latin music to accent how different miami is from the rest of the USA never mind the northern parts of florida.

this most likely sounds like bull$&*^ to most people that will read it and im open to take criticism but its just my gut feeling on the lebron hate, its a bunch of pent up racism.

[dcee101]

Agree Beast.. 100%

I will say this.. Bulls fans are the most delusional and hateful groups of fans in ANY sport that I've seen. Of course you may have an occasional exception, but years of watching Jordan has given them an inflated sense of entitlement, coupled with egos larger than the state of Texas.

In the case of the rabid Bulls haters, I've come to notice that they can't believe that Lebron didn't choose their amazing city, superior fanbase and far more talented team. After all, the Bulls would be talking about a 4-peat right now and if Rose didn't get injured the big three would have broken up two years ago.

They actually believe the own drivel spewing out of their mouths, that is the scary and funny thing.

Now Knick fans on the other hand are typical New Yorkers, but at least they respect the greatness of Lebron and can have a balanced discussion when you catch them off guard. During and right after a Heat game they revert to name calling and irrational comments but eventually they simmer down.

[crazy_me_87]

good article

and to get to the point

i agree with the most writen here

its a mix between beeing butthurt because he didnt go to their Team(and the 2 Teams most people thought he would go,Chi,NY have massive global fanbases,so he pissed of a lot of people there) and that the general view is that MJ is the unreachable GOAT... and till Lebron won a ring they where kinda happy because it looked like he could not seriusly challange MJ's throne.

but now 2 Rings later with a good chance for a threepeat before he turns 30... and no Baseball-Break in sight...^^ many,many people are getting really insecure because theire views are challanged...

THEY KNOW deep down, Lebron has a legit shot at beeing the GOAT in many peoples eyes but they cant stand the vision of the day MJ is no longer the GOAT..

i kinda feel a bit sorry for them

as a Lebron fan i can really enjoy his legend grow day by day.. can be proud i followed him and rooted for him since he was a rookie...defended him when everyone bashed him..

i'm havin a great time watching him... and i pity all those haters.. they let theire hate ruin the possible fun.

never understood that

i'd rather be a little less critical in some parts of live and enjoy it that beeing all bitter...^^

[PaulieWal]

I will say this.. Bulls fans are the most delusional and hateful groups of fans in ANY sport that I've seen. Of course you may have an occasional exception, but years of watching Jordan has given them an inflated sense of entitlement, coupled with egos larger than the state of Texas.

I don't know if they are the most delusional but they certainly are the most hateful on RealGM. Sometimes I will read their board after Heat wins and it is real vicious hatred that reeks from their posts. I think on the Bulls board I see real hate for the Heat and especially LeBron, not just "sports hate". They all complain about Heat fans being bad and a bunch of bandwagoners. I really wonder how the Bulls have so many global fans now (some of them on RealGM) given that they have never lived in or visited Chicago. Could it be that great players will attract more fans and some of them will stick with the team even after the great player leaves/retires?

All of them spew insults at LeBron about being a douche and entitled and being babied by the refs. Umm...hello, that was MJ?????? There are some great Bulls posters like King Cuban (who even posts here sometimes) but a lot of them are incredibly biased homers and haters.