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LeBron James ranked sixth-most disliked figure in U.S. sports

Discussion in 'Other Sports Forum' started by Topdawg13, Sep 16, 2010.

  1. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    He. was. asked. a. question.

    He answered it the only way an honest person can.

    You wanted him to lie?
     
  2. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Strange, when he was asked about free agency he sure had no problem talking around the question or not taking a reporter's bait. Was he not an honest person then?

    You are obviously going to defend everything LeBron does no matter what so I'm going to bow out of this argument now.
     
  3. Desides

    Desides Well-Known Member

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    I disagree with Sec and LeBron that race was a factor here, but at the same time, race is brought up constantly. This discussion is a perfect example. The sports media brings up race all the time. Dan Le Batard is famous for it. I personally think that Le Batard talks about race too much, and he winds up manufacturing new angles of controversy where they didn’t exist previously. I think CNN did the same thing here.

    Now, note that LeBron didn’t say that people are upset with him because he’s black. He didn’t say that racism is at work. Despite Topdawg13’s post, the race card isn’t being played here.

    CNN asked LeBron if race was a factor in the backlash against him. He said it probably was. That’s not exactly the same as LeBron going out of his way to say “everyone who’s upset with me is a racist,” which appears to be what you and a few others have taken away from his statement.

    I thought the hate train left the station months ago. Apparently it’s still boarding.

    Bring on the season.
     
  4. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    You know that is not fair since I called his 1 hour "decision" show a "clown show".

    I have allowed CLEVELAND fans to be pissed off..I have no problem with them...I have said so. They can hate all they want. They are entitled to.

    My problem is with everybody else hating. NAMELY the BULLS, Knicks and Laker fans that coincidentally... are now great haters of the Miami Heat.
     
  5. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    oh..and the latest hate line?

    Accusing Dwyane Wade of juicing (HGH, Steroids) because there was a picture of D-Wade with his shirt off on ESPN that showed him to be really muscular.

    He has looked like that since being a rookie. The guy is not some thin B-ball player. He has been 6-4 225 pounds since his rookie year.

    But it doesn't stop...50 to 60 comments on ESPN..and countless threads on realgm.

    matter of time till one of the hate brigade in the media will chime in.
     
  6. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Fair enough - I thought you were just blindly defending him as the Heat's new toy.

    I think a lot of people built him up to be the next Jordan - he helped that by taking the number 23, taking less money to be with Nike and Gatorade, and speaking about Jordan quite a bit when he was younger.

    Seeing him to go a team with two other all-stars is a step down in a lot of people's minds. They wanted to talk about him being the GOAT - seeing him hit shots like the one in Orlando.

    Now, Wade will probably be taking those shots and no matter how great LeBron plays, you can always say, "but look at who he had around him".

    I've written about this before - one of my favorite things about going to Cavs games was I felt like I was "seeing something". Like I could tell my kids about growing up watching LeBron become one of the GOAT. Sure, he could still do that (he WILL average a triple double in the next 4-5 years) but it isn't going to be like he put the team on his back - he is always going to have help.

    So I think a lot of those negative reactions from people are that we all had these huge hopes of seeing something great - and now it feels like he just gave up on that. Whether it is fair or not, a lot of people see him as a "Pippen" instead of a "Jordan".

    He built those expectations for himself - just like he built the hype around the free agency decision. He created that monster himself so when he made his decision, there was a huge negative backlash.

    I know you disagree about him not becoming one of the GOAT now that he has Wade on his team - but if you take a step back, can you see how people could be disappointed that there was so much hype (both by Bron and the media) and how his new position is a step-back from what that hype had built him to be?
     
  7. gunsmithx

    gunsmithx Active Member

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    You can't be serious... :smackhead: time to go thread hunting...
     
  8. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    People always want to see successful people fail. it is human nature.

    It is the vitriol that I take issue with.

    All you have to do is take a stroll around internet land.

    Hell..just watch Sportsnation..that chick on that show really hates on the heat on a daily basis...

    WHAT TEAM...EVER had this type of hate?....since the 80's and 90's Hurricanes?
     
  9. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    The Yankees every year - which is more or less what the Heat have become - a collection of super stars.
     
  10. Desides

    Desides Well-Known Member

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    Hate for the Heat far exceeds whatever resentment the Yankees might encounter.

    Hell, Yankees fans are hating hard on the Heat.
     
    Section126 likes this.
  11. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    I know it when I see it....

    this type of hate has not been seen since the 80's and 90's Canes.
     
    Stringer Bell likes this.
  12. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    Aside from the fact that the NBA has a salary cap...
     
  13. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Not really sure how that is relevant?

    I was talking about hatred towards a team and the makeup of that team. People hate both teams - both teams have a high percentage of super stars on their rosters.

    How those teams were constructed and the rules they had to work against weren't even part of the discussion.
     
  14. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    People hate the Yankees because their team was built solely on finances. People play in NY, because NY will pay them more money than anyone else. There is no skill involved in writing a check.
     
  15. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    Not sure how you would measure that, but seeing as how the majority of baseball fans hate on the yankees, I doubt that. :lol:
     
  16. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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  17. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    There's a difference between having an opinion and claiming something is fact. The fact is you don't know what his motivation was. Then you admit that given the option it is unlikely that anyone would chose to pay the money out of pocket over doing the show. IIRC your words were "nobody does it". Then you go on to say "but he could have". At a minimum you're saying it is very unlikely that anybody would chose that option over doing the show as a financial decision alone, but somehow you "know" that he decided on the much more likely option for egotistical reasons rather than b/c of the obvious monetary reasons.

    I admit that in retrospect it was a poor decision, but I also know that putting myself in the same boat, I probably would have done the same thing. And I also know that I wouldn't have done it for egotistical reasons. Yet, I'm pretty sure that people like you would still be saying that you "know" I did it for egotistical reasons and you'd be wrong.
     
  18. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    How was it a poor decision? The NBA is in the business of entertainment. The hour long special did nothing but promote the NBA, and generate interest.

    In terms of LeBron's personal popularity, in the long run it will turn into a positive. LeBron just made himself a polarizing figure. You either love him or hate him. When the guy is averaging a triple double and has 5+ rings, people wont be hating on him.
     
  19. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I think if you look at the posting history of the people defending LBJ in this thread you'd find that most are not defending him blindly as the Heat's new toy. I know that personally I criticized LBJ before the decision b/c I didn't think he had the guts to go to Miami and face the criticism. I stated that staying in Cleveland was the easy decision. He would be forever loved, but would never win. Going to NY or Chicago would also be accepted b/c that was what ESPN had been saying for months, (actually a year for NY), was what was going to happen. Miami was the tough choice b/c he would have to take less money and be criticized for not wanting to be the man. Not to mention become the villain in Cleveland. But it was also the decision that gave him the best chance to win which is what he had been saying was his goal.

    What I'm defending now is not the show, which was a bad idea, but rather how people keep acting like they know why he did it. They automatically dismiss all other options and pretend they know what he was thinking. The fact of the matter is that just as a logical, financial decision most anybody with the same opportunity would have made the same choice. What made the show a bad idea was that he didn't pick Cleveland. If he had picked Cleveland, the backlash for the same show would have been nothing. The charity would have got the money and ESPN would have had another highly rated show. But instead he made the unpopular choice so now the show becomes the alleged reason. Really it is only a bad idea to make a show around an unpopular decision.

    Now the race comment comes up. People have an automatic reaction to anybody saying race. But he didn't play the race card. He was asked a question and he answered it. Frankly, he answered it well. And based on the fact that he has to erase a hundred or so racist comments on his twitter page per day, how could he not think that part of the backlash was based on race?Where he screwed up by readdressing it and trying to explain it. And by allowing Maverick Carter to to expand on it. He needed to shut up and let it die. But the reality is that he didn't play the race card or even complain about race. Yet now there are articles and posts being written criticizing LBJ for playing the race card. It's just another inaccurate and illogical attack.

    None of those things above though should put him on any most hated list. He didn't commit a crime. He didn't even break a contract. The fact that he's on such a list just shows the irrationality of the attacks against him. Then you can add the attacks against Wade, who has done nothing wrong and you take that irrationality to another level.
     
  20. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I think it was a poor decision b/c some segment will always hate him for it. The error was in doing the show without knowing what the decision was. Its not a good idea to spend an hour building up to an unpopular choice.
     
  21. Desides

    Desides Well-Known Member

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    Cleveland residents hate Art Modell for leaving. But the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

    I’d say moving was the right decision, in that light.
     
  22. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Here's another thought - LeBron is behind TO and OchoCinco. What have they done, in comparison to LeBron, to be ABOVE him on that list?

    Even if you chalk up the anti-LeBron segment to whining or over-exposure, what has OchoCinco done to be ahead of him on this list?

    I think Heat fans might be taking a little bit too much offense to LeBron being next to a guy who dances after touchdowns.
     
  23. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    IMO both of those have more to self-aggrandize themselves than LBJ has. T.O. I would say has done more wrong, (bad team mate stuff) than most anybody. I would put 85 in the same class as Favre. But I think Favre gets more of a pass from the public b/c he's white. Which brings us back to the race thing. In my experience, fans will love their athletes regardless. But they'll love athletes more if they're the same race. The result will be that an athlete of a different race has to do more to reach the same level of adulation and he'll be dropped more quickly if he's a different race.

    BTW I use "different" to mean different than the fan. That's why I think you saw a bigger drop in LBJ's rating among whites than blacks.
     
  24. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    J.A. Adande weighs in on how LeBron really said nothing wrong - just admitted that race plays a role in everything -

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/train...ry?columnist=adande_ja&page=LeBronRace-101001

    After reading the quotes again I do agree he wasn't playing the race card. I still think after the whole Dan Gilbert "slave owner" thing, that simply by answering and putting the quote out there, he knew the reaction he would get.
     
  25. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    OchoCinco requested a trade during an offseason 3 years ago. How is that similar to Favre?

    Favre is MUCH worse in terms of being an egomaniac. But Favre also had 10 years, a super bowl ring and some MVPs as a foundation so his reputation was much greater to begin with.
     
  26. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    TO has disrespected teammates. Both have threatened to, or have failed to honor contracts they have signed.
     
  27. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Again, OchoCinco did this 3 years ago - and ended up back with his team.

    LeBron had the most hyped event in sports in the last 10 years and it was only 3 months ago. And he ended up LEAVING his team amid rumors that he didn't fulfill his contract (playing to the best of his ability in the playoffs).
     
  28. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I would put the handcuffing of the GB franchise in the same light. I think it hurt them similarly. They asked Favre to make a decision before the draft for several years so they could draft accordingly. His failure to do that put them in a tight spot.

    85 threatening to hold out put his team in a similar predicament. It is a bit worse to demand the trade but that is offset by only doing it once compared to the three years I believe Favre did it.
     
  29. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    How did LeBron not handcuff the Cavs organization? And it was 3 months ago, not three years ago - and he ended up LEAVING that team, screwing them over, not returning and being productive.
     
    texanphinatic likes this.
  30. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    That's just the irrational attempts at justification for the hate. LBJ had a bad game. If he had returned that's all it would be. And LBJ then played out his contract and exercised his option. He didn't do anything wrong but the jilted party are hating him like an old GF that dumped them. That was the appropriate analogy you brought up in another thread. Nobody likes being dumped, but it takes more maturity to admit that than it does to just continuing to blame the person who left.
     
  31. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    He did but it was at the end of his contract. He stated that he was going to let the process play out and that he would listen to the other teams. He did that and there was nothing wrong with that. Cleveland was handcuffed by the situation, great player with the option to leave, not b/c LBJ was doing anything wrong.
     
  32. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Still don't understand how what OchoCinco did was worse than LeBron.

    But yes - it was like being dumped, on national television. And that is probably why there is a negative reaction around it - becaues people understand that what he did to Cleveland was a crappy thing to do. And they called him on it.

    If I saw a guy break up with a girl on national tv I would think that guy was an *******. In the same way people say that about LeBron.

    It isn't about "jealousy" that he didn't pick them. It is that he did an ******* move and it getting called on it.
     
    texanphinatic likes this.
  33. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    Exactly. He should be revered for what he's done for the NBA. This will be the biggest season the NBA has seen in a long time.
     
  34. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    Its nothing like breaking up with a girl on TV. LeBron is in the business of entertainment. His job is to bring viewers to the NBA. He's done that to the point of surpassing anything the league could have asked for.
     
  35. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    Then why is he paid by teams and not by the NBA?
     
  36. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    You know what is satisfying though?

    Everytime Wade or Lebron get asked to talk smack...they say..."Boston is the best team in the east....the Lakers are the best team in the NBA...those are the teams to beat....

    Lately, they are throwing in Orlando as well....

    Wade said there are at least 9 teams better than us right now because we are still building chemistry and learning the offense and defense...and we are building our team now.....

    the Heat is being humble and talking zero trash...

    IN CONTRAST..

    You have Ron Jeremy in Orlando and the greatest GM on earth in Otis Smith yapping....Superman D12 can't shut up...SHAQ dissing Bosh...Rondo making sure that everybody knows they are the team to beat....Derek Fisher yapping as well.....etc...etc....

    we just speak softly and carry a nuclear bomb to drop it in an arena near you.
     
    Stringer Bell likes this.
  37. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    The difference was that most breakups are private events. They aren't national news. In this case it was. And it is all about the jealousy. Whenever a party gets jilted they act like the other person did it in an ******* way, but really they are just pissed they got jilted. If LBJ had just leaked it to one of the reporters, he would have been criticized for not having the guts to do it in public. Reality is that he would have been criticized regardless b/c the jilted party would still be jilted.
     
  38. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    You act like his only choice was to go on national tv and do this. If he had done it just like Wade and Bosh this wouldn't have been an issue.
     
  39. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    That doesn't make sense. His salary is determined by how much the NBA makes.
     
  40. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    Exactly. It wouldn't be an issue. Nobody would be talking about the NBA in September.
     

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