Still no Love for Lebron James?

Jerry West doesn’t own a single green article of clothing.  Not one. His hatred for the Boston Celtic’s is so deep that he refuses to wear the color green.  Sasha Vujacic won’t wear green either.  In fact, Sasha Vujacic’s hates the Celtics so much that he asks reporters to take off green ties in his presence. While West and Vujacic have boycotted fashion to demonstrate their hatred, Kevin Garnett has embraced it.  In 2009 Garnett released a shoe named “Beat L.A.” which had the overall record between the teams emblazoned on the tongue.

The hatred between Boston and Los Angeles players is nothing when compared to the hatred exhibited by their fans.  There have been multiple assaults and fights between fans both in and out of the arenas.

That’s why it is so surprising to see so many Los Angeles Lakers fans rooting for the Boston Celtics to beat the Miami Heat in tomorrow’s game.  You would think that Lakers fans would want to see anyone but the Celtics in the finals, and yet, most Lakers fans are supporting their bitter rivals in the hopes that LeBron James never wins a final.  Amazingly, Lakers fans seem to hate Lebron more than the team which knocked them out of the NBA finals 9 times. Lakers fans are not the only fans to hate LeBron James.  It seems that every fan base in the nation by and large wants anyone but LeBron to win the championship. 

What did Lebron do that warranted so much hatred? 

The easy argument would be that people hate LeBron for “The Decision.” Lebron broke an entire city’s heart on live television without giving them fair warning.  But was the decision really any worse than what Dwight Howard is doing to the Magic? And yet people still love Dwight.  Shaquille O’Neil was a number 1 pick who left his team high and dry, and yet people still love him. 

Even if LeBron’s decision was significantly worse than Dwight and Shaq’s treatment of the Orlando Magic, it’s hardly the worse thing we have seen a professional basketball player do.  Kobe Bryant allegedly raped a woman, Allen Iverson was convicted of maiming a kid while in a mob, and Ron Artest attacked fans during a game, but still, none of them are as hated as LeBron.   

I’ve heard people argue that the reason they hate LeBron because of his arrogance.  They hate the way he calls himself the King, the way he throws chalk in the air, and the way he promised the city of Miami multiple championships.  But LeBron is hardly the most arrogant athlete we have ever seen.  Kobe Bryant is arguably just as arrogant as LeBron James and Michael Jordan is decidedly more so.  And while there are plenty of Bryant and Jordan haters, people still seem to hate LeBron much more.

Some say that the reason they hate LeBron is because they feel he is wasting his physical abilities and/or shys away from the big moment.  They argue that LeBron is capable of taking over every game, but inexplicably fails to show up when it matters.  Then again people don’t hate Vince Carter.  Generally speaking people wish he would have lived up to his potential, but nobody hates him.  

There are surely more reasons why people hate LeBron.  But I think the main reason that people hate him is the same reason why the Lakers hate the Celtics and vice versa.  It’s the same reason people hate the Yankees and the same reason that people used to hate the Dallas Cowboys.  If your beloved team plays LeBron there is a good chance your team is going to lose.  And everyone hates losing.