18 replies to this topic

[Oswego Chris]

Before all of you young bucks in your twenties and thirties string me up for saying I think it's silly that Lebron James does not deserve the amount of hate he gets...hear me out. I want you to think of yourself in high school, or eighth grade even. Did you ever make some really, really bad choices? Sure you did. As I sit here in my somewhat early forties I can look back at some of the things I did in my thirties and say "What the F%^# was I thinking?"

Is LeBron James immature? You bet. Does he have an incredibly large ego? Check. You would too if you were good enough to play in the NBA when you were 10.

He's also an unselfish player(13 assists last night), yet he gets criticized for not being more selfish. He can't win with most of you...I get it, but I don't hate him. In fact, if I were to make up an "All-Hate" team, he wouldn't even be on my bench. Here is a brief list of who would be, and please feel free to nominate anyone I may have missed( and feel free to tell me how wrong I am about LeBron):

1. HAWK HARRELSON- He's captain skippy when the Sox are winning...but this pompous braggard shows his true colors with his "umpires are out to get the Sox" conspiracies
2. AJ PIERZINSKI- His own teammates don't even like him
3. RAFFI TORRES- He knocked Marian Hossa out with a vicious cheap hit, and he may never be the same
4. WASPS- they literally have no reason to exist, are not part of the food chain and are bad flyers
5. ROGER CLEMENS- he chucked a bat at a guy(albeit another suspected 'roid user), can you imagine if Barry Bonds did that?
6. BARRY BONDS- where to begin? how about in college when his teammates voted him off the team for being such an a-hole

I am sure there are more I could think of, but I am interested in hearing BN readers nominations....

[King Jeff]

i agree with your list, but I still hate LeBron. I don't so much hate him for the mistakes/bad choices he's made. I hate him for the way he reacts to things. He has always given off that air of entitlement in interviews. He's always blaming his problems on other people, and he doesn't really take responsibility for his mistakes. The fact is that I'm glad that the Heat won the title, so now I can quit hearing about the Heat and LeBron's quest for legitimacy every second of every day. I'm sorry if I seem bitter, but I live in Miami and have to deal with loudmouth Heat fans all the time that were nowhere to be found before LeBron signed here.

[Luke]

The fact is that I'm glad that the Heat won the title, so now I can quit hearing about the Heat and LeBron's quest for legitimacy every second of every day.

If only. The national media is so totally in love with LeBron I doubt they'll ever let it rest. I have no doubt that ESPN and ilk will still devote a good 15% to 20% of their air time to LeBron throughout the entirety of the off season, even if they have to cut short coverage of sports that are actually being played to do so.

[TWC]

I'm still waiting to find out the results of LeBron's "Decision". It's been on my TiVo for AGES, I just haven't gotten around to watching it.

[Spencer]

Is there anything to actually like about LeBron? Serious question.

[Edgar]

Do i respect him as a basketball player yes. Do i respect him as a person hello tucking no.

We all know he can be the best basketball aye but his legacy as a person will never allow him to be respected to mjs level

[TWC]

We all know he can be the best basketball aye but his legacy as a person will never allow him to be respected to mjs level

I'm pretty sure that respect for Michael Jordan is strictly limited to his basketball abilities, which remain a thing of legend. His "legacy as a person" would lead you to conclude that MJ was one of the biggest dickheads to ever step on the court. If you need a reminder of that, just watch his Hall of Fame induction speech. It's really pretty gross.

[Luke]

Is there anything to actually like about LeBron? Serious question.

You know, had it not been for "The Decision," I think he'd be one of the more liked players in the league. He does actually pass... which is shocking in the NBA... he did take less money to go to Miami, and he does occasionally act like the fans exist for something more than to worship his every thought. The potential is there for him to be a well loved national icon.

Instead, he threw a big party for his overblown ego.

All he had to do was hold a normal press conference in which he praised Cleveland to the moon, but regrettably left because he had a chance to be part of something historic in Miami. That's it. If he could summon a few fake tears for the Cavs fans, all the better. There would still be dark room whispers about how he hijacked the entire league to fulfill his private whims and that the whole thing stunk of something very similar to collusion, but I don't think it would have gone past that. He could have been a sympathetic figure.

But when he decided to hold the nationally telecast, prime time, one hour, made for TV event in which he sounded like a ego-maniac and essentially flipped off his home town, home state, and former teammates right after mailing in his final performance as a Cav in one of the most pathetic playoff game 'efforts' by a so-called star in league history, he decided to paint a giant target on his back that will never wash off.

And the sad thing is, he hates being the bad guy. He probably thinks winning a title will make him a good guy again, and he's probably wrong. He's managed to be more hated than Ron Artest (or whatever his name is), and that takes a lot of doing. At this point, even if he could adopt every homeless kitten in the country, pay off the national debt, invent a time machine, develop faster than light travel, and find a way to make day time talk shows watchable, I think he'd still go into the history books as one of the most despicable assholes since Ty Cobb.

[Spencer]

Not to mention the pep rally that the Heat held after James, Wade, and Bosh all signed and he pledged to win 8 championships.

And his tweet this morning that said "I AM A CHAMPION", not "we" are champions.

And that for his son's sixth birthday which was this past week, LBJ told his son that for his birthday that he would get him a win. No other gift, just a win. I would say he was joking, but nothing about his character suggests he was.

And then last night, he said "it's about damn time", when asked about his reaction to winning - clear disregard for his teammates and the city of Miami, which isn't exactly a hot bed for professional sporting acumen.

And again last night, he said it was "the happiest day of his life". That's a bummer for his two kids, I think.

I wonder how many of those things Kevin Durant would've said or done.

[MichiganGoat]

Skip Bayless and Steven Smith are one of the many reasons I hate the NBA. I'm glad they don't talk baseball.

[Rick Vaughn 99]

Skip Bayless and Steven Smith are one of the many reasons I hate the NBA. I'm glad they don't talk baseball.

If you haven't seen this, it's a good time. Mark Cuban saying what many of us have been wanting to say to Bayless and most mainstream sports media, but mostly Bayless.
http://www.barstools...ss-a-fatality/#

I hate Skip Bayless. He represents exactly why I rarely get my sports news from ESPN anymore. It certainly isn't just him, it's sadly becoming the network in general, but nobody else makes me change the channel nearly as fast as he does.

[King Jeff]

Skip Bayless and Steven Smith are one of the many reasons I hate the NBA. I'm glad they don't talk baseball.

If you haven't seen this, it's a good time. Mark Cuban saying what many of us have been wanting to say to Bayless and most mainstream sports media, but mostly Bayless.
http://www.barstools...ss-a-fatality/#

I hate Skip Bayless. He represents exactly why I rarely get my sports news from ESPN anymore. It certainly isn't just him, it's sadly becoming the network in general, but nobody else makes me change the channel nearly as fast as he does.

That was absolutely terrific. I loved that Cuban kept talking about zones and matchups and Skip kept saying all the generalized bullshit he was trying to deny he says. Did I hear correctly, did Skip really just try to take credit for LeBron changing his game and winning the title?

[Rick Vaughn 99]

Skip Bayless and Steven Smith are one of the many reasons I hate the NBA. I'm glad they don't talk baseball.

If you haven't seen this, it's a good time. Mark Cuban saying what many of us have been wanting to say to Bayless and most mainstream sports media, but mostly Bayless.
http://www.barstools...ss-a-fatality/#

I hate Skip Bayless. He represents exactly why I rarely get my sports news from ESPN anymore. It certainly isn't just him, it's sadly becoming the network in general, but nobody else makes me change the channel nearly as fast as he does.

That was absolutely terrific. I loved that Cuban kept talking about zones and matchups and Skip kept saying all the generalized bullshit he was trying to deny he says. Did I hear correctly, did Skip really just try to take credit for LeBron changing his game and winning the title?

Yeah, he sure did.

More shocking though is that Stephen A. Smith managed to sit quietly for almost 7 minutes.

[Njriv]

I hate all the comparrisons the media does with Lebron and Jordan. STOP IT. No one will EVER be Jordan and have LeBron just be LeBron.

[Luke]

I hate all the comparrisons the media does with Lebron and Jordan. STOP IT. No one will EVER be Jordan and have LeBron just be LeBron.

It's a terrible comp anyway. Jordan was a scoring guard. LeBron is more of a point forward. It's like comparing a super car to a luxury SUV. Pointless.