Haters and Champions

With LeBron James racking up his second consecutive NBA championship last night, I can't help but wonder what sits in the hearts and minds of the legion of haters out there who center their whole existence around despising the guy? It seems that every sport has this, an individual or team that is the object of derision, never giving an inch when it comes to their skills or achievements.
In motorcycle racing, that position seems to be firmly held by the likes of Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, and Dani Pedrosa with only Pedrosa left for the haters to feel "good" about since he has yet to claim the title. Oh, the pure anger that must arise within the hater to hear the words "World Champion Casey Stoner, World Champion Jorge Lorenzo".
Now, all the LeBron haters have to choke on the words "Two time NBA Champion LeBron James".
There's a difference between seeing someone as a villain in a "black hat", more a clever marketing creation than anything else, and being so consumed with ill and malice that even their total domination of the highest level of their profession could never be enough to sway the hater into even the most grudging of compliment.
Can a hater hate forever? Can a person obtain joy only through the failure of the object of their hate?

 

Is anyone really that wrapped up in NBA basketball? Lebron isn't my favorite player and I tend to root against him and his team (it's an ingrained underdog thing) but I can't imagine that anyone outside of Cleveland constantly simmers in hatred for the guy. He seems like a good guy.

 

I hate the guy, but his winning doesn't affect my daily routine one bit. I'm not losing any sleep over it.

He may be an ok guy in real life, but I can't stand his attitude/arrogance/personality on the court. We don't hear anything like a Hernandez story coming out about the guy, so he may be a good guy face to face, but the whining and tantrums over calls on the court just pisses me off. You're a professional, act like it. And this is old news, but the special announcement to go to the Heat was in poor taste.

He is a great player, and I have no problem admitting that. Do I think he is the best ever? No. Do I even think he is the best in the league now? Maybe... but there is some good competition out there... it's not a lock in my opinion.

I have no ill feelings about the heat, I think they are a good team. Wade has been one of my favorite players since he came up, and Bosh is extremely talented. But even with all of that, I will still always root against the Heat because of Lebron. I just wish his maturity level was as high as his skill level, but it's not even close.

 

Odd. I thought the Miami Heat was the NBA championship *team*...

 

Miami won? Damn! I almost gave a shit.

 

Here in Ohio, there is a HUGE conglomeration of the LeBron haters. Personally I like the guy. I'll follow him to whatever team he goes to, because he is an Ohio native doing our state proud. I'm not too involved with professional sports teams, I prefer to follow the athletes from our state or our great institution of higher learning (OSU). Lebron is a great player, this is undeniable. Now trying to compare him to Kobe and Jordan gets ridiculous.

 

I thought LeBron James was a new model of the K car...

 

The Decision.

A lot of people haven't forgotten. I don't really understand why. Karma got him back that first year when they failed. It should be over.

 

How come there isn't a conglomerate of followers hating the Black Mamba? Why? Cause he's so good both on and off the court. Lebron isn't a role model type. Still a great basketball player.

 

What was it Lebron said too a reporter after they lost that series a few years back?

" Your nobody, and tomorrow you will go back to you little job and little life" or whatever LOL. Dudes a great Basketball player, but classy he is not.

 

He has his haters. Especially after the whole rape scandal happened.


Let people hate, In sports, Hate usually means that you are doing something right.
Mentions Jordan's name in detriot or Ny to this day...people will punch you!
Same went for reggie miller in Ny for a while.

 

That's debatable.

 

Meh.....



and I don't hate Stoner or Lorenzo either.... I wish Stoner would come back.

 

The quote is inaccurate, and the actual circumstances in which it was said change that story quite a bit. It was a response to people hating on him. He didn't just come out of nowhere and say that.

Oh, and it was true.

 

I have my own "dislikes" in the persons of Carl Foggerty and Mike Alessi. It really stems from their attitudes, same as seems to be for those of you about James, but never could reach the point that their success gave me a bout of anger. Just because I don't cheer for them doesn't mean that I can only feel happiness through their failure or feel the need to demean them with my every breath and never, ever give them praise for their skills or the drive that took them to the level they attained.
That's where I'm going with the subject, not just the individual LeBron James, but any person who has risen to a high level in their sporting field. What makes that such a focus of "hatred" that it ends up being the only thing that a person is capable of conjuring?

 

I hate anybody who make gillions of dollars playing a childs game. I practiced hopscotch for years and it led to nothing.

 

Is that how you mastered leaps of faith?

 

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the pure definition of a hater!

You would hate them regardless of how much they made.

Tell me, how do you achieve such HOF level bitterness in life?

 

I don't like him.

 

We have one! That doesn't make a conglomerate Joe.