No matter how successful Lebron James is on the court, the majority of sports fans have decided that he is one of the most unlikable athletes in all of sports. On a list that features Tiger Woods in the number two spot, one has to wonder, what can lead to someone being disliked so much. For James, he was simply set up to fail.
Lebron James was the first pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Fresh out of high school, he was placed on a pedestal by the media. To the credit of James, his rookie numbers were incredible, averaging nearly 21 points a game, 6 assists, and 5.5 rebounds. He took home the Rookie of the Year award for his success. His first season MVP award came after the 2008-2009 season in which he averaged nearly 29 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. He was titled the MVP the following season as well. Whether people think he deserved the award or not, he put up astounding numbers and put the Cavaliers on his back, qualifying them in the category playoff contenders.
With all of the success comes a certain aura about James that didn’t please many people. Analysts made remarks about him as if he was the greatest thing the league had ever seen. Before every game, he started to sprinkle powder into his hands, clasp them together, and send a puff of smoke into the air before he walked onto the court. He began to cry for fouls for the littlest touch or push. He was losing sight of the meaning of the game, and giving into the “King James” version of himself that the media had constructed for him. Seeing him strut around the court as if he were the most important person on the planet certainly bothered people, but they couldn’t have blamed him. It wasn’t his fault. It was the media’s for putting pressure on him and making him think that he was head and shoulders above every other player in the league.
The one event that made Lebron James go from a respectable athlete with a small amount of criticizers to one of the most hated athletes in all of sports was “The Decision” special. The special was a program on ESPN that featured him and his decision regarding whether or not he would remain a Cleveland Cavalier. Of course, many know that he chose the Miami Heat and abandoned the city of Cleveland. He then went onto proclaim, along with his teammates Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade, that they would go on to win multiple championships.
As of today, Lebron James has yet to prove that he can lead a team to victory in the NBA finals. Larry Bird, a hall of fame player who knows how to win a championship recently said, “if you want to win, play with Kobe. If you want to have fun, play with Lebron.” Quite frankly, Bird is correct. Kobe has rings and Lebron doesn’t. Also, earlier this week Blake Griffin was spotted soaring at unthinkable heights, as usual, as he dunked over Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kendrink Perkins. In response to seeing the play, Lebron James out of nowhere tweeted, ”Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I’m No. 2 now. Move over #6.” Now, before the season started James said that he was a different person and that he wanted people to like him. In order for people to like him he concluded that he would do his talking on the court. This tweet must have been an exception to that rule, because not only does it infer that he is proclaiming himself as the best in the league, but he’s also drawing attention to himself off of another player’s highlight play!
Hopefully Lebron will live and learn from these experiences, because he isn’t exactly making himself an attractive candidate for the top loved athletes list. Furthermore, true all-stars such as Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, and Earvin (Magic) Johnson would never have even thought about stealing the spotlight from an extraordinary play in a game that they were in no way involved with. Lebron James will remain one of the top hated athletes in all of sports so long as he stays ring-less, and fails to use his head when leaking anything to the public.