10 Finals appearances and four NBA championships later and folks still aren’t satisfied.
A social media survey conducted by Sports Insider found that LeBron James is the most hated player in the NBA. The research consisted of geotagged Twitter data over the last month that tracked the negative mentions of NBA superstars. The research used phrases such as “I hate LeBron” or “LeBron Sucks” to inform the data of the study.
It was then decided that LeBron is the most hated NBA player in 24 different states. After LeBron was Kyrie Irving in 18 states, James Harden and KD in 3 states, and Russell Westbrook and Paul George in 1 state.
Most Hated NBA Player in Each State (Via Sports Insider) pic.twitter.com/A8G5HkJCdG
Of course, notorious LeBron hater Skip Bayless had something to say about it. “A national poll finds that the most hated player in the NBA is … LeBron James,” Bayless tweeted. “No surprise here. Can’t wait to discuss on tomorrow’s Undisputed. I’m told Shannon is out of his mind over this.”
A national poll finds that the most hated player in the NBA is … LeBron James. No surprise here. Can't wait to discuss on tomorrow's Undisputed. I'm told Shannon is out of his mind over this.
On Wednesday’s “Undisputed” episode, FOX Sports NBA analyst Chris Broussard said that a reason for the overwhelming hate on LeBron might come from his advocacy for player movement and player empowerment, referencing his time with Miami.
“He stands for player empowerment. When LeBron had the audacity to say, ‘I, as a player, can put together a team better than my front office,’ … and he did it, when most of the country was hating on him, that was polarizing. A lot of people don’t like that. He started this trend, which is now commonplace, of players putting their teams together.”
