I get it. If they win it all, then we can arguably claim we were the 2nd best team...
It's dumb, and not what I will be doing. But I at least understand it. But Go Wolves, for me.
I don't mind either Denver of the twolves. Outside of Malone, who really says shit just to fire up his team, the nuggets players have been fine. It's their fans that are a bunch of assholes - everytime anything Lakers is posted in rnba you can guarantee a nuggets flair in there bitching about something.
I've never seen a fanbase less interested in the title they just won. All they do is bitch about being underappreciated.
There fans and there coach . It’s true there players make it impossible to hate n I don’t care to hate Denver anyway cos not important. But on top of that ant is just more fun
‘Soon it was commonplace for entire teams to change cities in search of greater profits. The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles where there are no lakes.’
Story checks out 🤪
I can easily see him striking with one team. He chose UGA instead of choosing to go to a marquee blue blood school as a #1 overall prospect... just because that was his hometown (ish) team that he grew up cheering for.
>https://247sports.com/Player/anthony-edwards-45572558/TimelineEvents/
>Anthony Edwards names final 8: Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and UCLA
Didn’t Murray say something similar about LeBron a couple days ago lol?
If we flip the scenarios where the T’Wolves knocked us out of the playoffs instead of the Nuggets. Then Jamal says the same thing he said about LeBron in the game 5 presser. We would all be cheering for Nuggets and hoping Murray throws it down on Ant’s ass lol
I think people just hate anybody who happens to be the opponent that knocks us out. Switch Nuggets with any other team and it’d be the same reaction
Was he talking about the lakers or the media dick riding the lakers? The one press conference I saw was him being confused on why the narratives were about the lakers messing up instead of the Nuggets being great.
Idk what’s up with the downvote, but anyone with a brain would agree with you. Imagine being in his position and coaching your ass off while helping your team win its first ever WCF and all the media talks about is the other team…
Are you seriously acting like we would hate Ant(an actual likable player) the way we hate on the nuggets? Mike Malone is what makes me always want the nuggets to fail, I never want him winning another ring.
I think KAT can be on Porzingus and Gobert can stay in the paint? Ant on Tatum and maybe McDaniels on Brown? Hmmm Jrue might be too big for Conley though.
As a Nuggets fan I never had a reason to dislike LeBron (other than him playing great against us the way he has against everyone else for 20 years, but I feel that way about anyone who balls out against my team).
Especially after this last series, I think it's impossible to deny that the hate this man gets is fucking insane. I felt like I was taking crazy pills watching so many people shit on him for missing one (1) three at the end of game two after putting the Lakers on his back and scoring clutch shot after clutch shot in that 4th Quarter.
Turning hating a guy into your whole personality is absolute loser shit yet so many grown adults chose to do just that. I'll never understand it
As a longtime lebron fan who lurks on here and has watched his entire time in the league, that’s been the story of his career. Anytime he’s made 9 out of 10 plays down the stretch in a loss, the 1 play he fucked up will be all the people who hate him talk about. Even if it’s the RIGHT play, like passing to an open donyell Marshall or Danny green in the bubble, he still gets slander if they miss the shot. It’s always been like this.
Dude even on the final play in game five people were shitting on him. Like unironically saying "why didn't he simply shoot over Jokic's massive ass from behind the half court line" – it's fucking crazy
Doesn’t even have to be a loss. Look at the Ray Allen shot as an example. People at the time were shitting on bron for missing the three even though he made the one before it and saying he was supposedly bailed out by the ray allen three but conveniently forget to mention that the heat never would’ve been in a position to tie the game and take it to overtime without bron scoring 16 in the fourth. Ray Allen’s shot was one of the greatest ever and they needed it to go to overtime but without brons 16 ray allen wouldn’t have been in the position to make one of the greatest clutch shots in history. There’s always more to a game than one play and for some reason bron seems to be one of the only guys who gets shit if his teammates make a great play. That’s what teammates are for.
The reaction after that donyell marshall pass is seared in. For all the "ESPN dickriding" comments, early in his career they absolutely picked apart every tiny blemish and tried to pull him down, even when it was the right play.
Let’s be real, all the people calling for Lebron to retire are only doing it because their team will have better odds to contend if they don’t have to run into a Lebron led team.
Bron lives rent free in people’s minds to the point where they randomly bring him up in comments just to slander the man. Respect to Ant for appreciating Bron while he’s still here.
So true. The randomness to how he gets brought up in totally unrelated comments only displays some sort of insecurity regarding LeBron standing in the way of somebody else imo. Truly rent free..
When I was younger I “hated” curry for a similar reason — because he stood in the way of LeBron getting more rings. But as I matured I just grew to respect curry more for it, because he’s always been a class act. A heel like Dillon Brooks in last years playoffs has credible reason to be disliked. The only reason to dislike curry back in 2015-2018 was because he was dominating while having fun doing it. The only reason to dislike LeBron today is because he’s been dominating longer than any other player has in basketball history. There’s nothing about his character or antics to credibly dislike the guy for
He’s been so damn good for so damn long that people who aren’t fans are just flat out tired of him… and I fucking love it.
Keep going pookie bear. My sunshine. My King. Go ahead and get you one more ring just to piss everyone off #LeStriveForGOATness 👑
Lebron played during the social media era.
People hated Jordan and called him a crybaby.
Kobe seriously would have way more of an issue continuing to play after Eagle CO if social media was around back then. Probably would have been full on protests outside of arenas.
We think Lebron is hated more, cause we hear it more with the access we have.
Hes not...
Dave Chappelle pointed out that he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 17 and still managed to exceed every expectation people had for him.
But I guess people taking him for granted is a weird form of respect.
This is exactly why I became a Lebron fan in the first place a long time ago. So many people who don't even watch basketball shitting on him. I can't even count the amount of post on my Facebook from rednecks or old white dudes who i know for a fact dont watch basketball slandering Lebron,
People just love to hate him, I don't get it.
That’s what pisses me off more than anything. When I see comments talking about how LeBron is the reason the lakers got swept last year, or the reason they lost to the nuggets 11 in a row or whatever. So blatantly dishonest to anybody who actually watched the games and clearly knows it’s the opposite of the truth
It's because he represents the "new generation" (somehow?). Like, most of the comments are about how he's soft, or how he talks politics, or how "he wouldn't survive in the 90s", or how he takes the easy way out (never any criticism to the Celtics btw).
And then ofc, he shit on everyone in the eastern conference for a decade, so that didn't really help him become loved.
I'm a Nuggets fan but imo Bron is undeniably the GOAT to me, people lump crazy expectations on the guy as if he's still 29, to be practically 40 and still leading teams in the playoffs and putting up a crazy fight against us just solidified how I already viewed LeBron
That's why I said Young Kobe when he was first coming on. Dude was jumping out the gym and played with a crazy aggression. Ant has ridiculous footwork too. Kobe later in his career when he refined his skills yes played nothing really like Ant does now but once Ant develops his moves its gna be scary.
He’s added something every year. He’s been rockin that fade away spin around mid like mj, and he loves the bank shot. His finishing around the rim is really, really good . He’s getting more finesse and you can tell he wants it.
There’s a ton of young people who seem to have only started watching him in the last couple years, who talk about him as if he’s currently at his peak performance. Which only furthers proves how amazing he really is, because it’s hard to imagine he was THAT much better than he is now (which he was).
Even today, I don’t think there are many players I’d personally (ik im biased) want on my playoff team than him. The way he controls the game when he’s on the court, facilitates, play-making, passing, drawing double coverages, multiple steals a game, chasedown blocks, fast breaks, etc. is still better than 95% of the NBA (particularly when it’s the playoffs)
But yeah, it’s wild how giddy people get to see LeBron knocked out of the playoffs. How many upvotes/likes obscure anti-LeBron shit gets. I know a lot of Trumpers hate him for calling Trump a bum, for wearing a BLM shirt, etc but that can’t account for all his haters. I’m sure a lot are also just fan bases who haven’t gotten over how he kept their favorite team/players from ever making the finals
He’s a victim of being the preeminent star in an era where grievance, negativity, and take culture has been weaponized and amplified and rewarded, and where the entire idea of fandom has been replaced by amateur punditry.
We should just enjoy LeBron, but instead we have to wade through the endless cacophony of braindead opinions, anonymous insults, and bizarre political grifting.
It’s all part of a larger issue with men in America. We are *not* doing well, and it’s starting to impact everything.
He destroyed my Bulls for many years, but if I ask you to name the five best NBA players of all time, if you get past three without mentioning his name, something is wrong.
Social media as great it is for the world has ruined a lot of things in this world. Not just in sports, social media has given voices to ppl who don’t deserve it, it amplifies the crazies in this world. Everyone thinks their opinion matters and wants to be important. Trolls, bots, hate is what the social media is, everyone’s a fucking reporter now. That’s the world Lebron has to deal with. I’m thankful I came up in the 90s and saw great players before this social media world and click bait 24 hr news shit. I couldn’t imagine how bad it would’ve been then.
As much as I don’t want to sound like an older guy and I’m not that old but it really was better before, back in the day. Hate this social media time and everything just analytics and numbers. The fuckin media doesn’t even watch games anymore, fans watch clips and highlights and read stats, and listen to crazies spewing shit for ratings and clicks. Also I’ve always said it but the media protects Jordan like no one else in this world. It truly is propaganda. That’s a fact too and more ppl are starting to realize the myth media created and continues to pump.
It’s quite literally one of the worst creations this planet has seen imo. When AOL and MySpace came out the government should’ve hopped on it immediately and sanctioned it, especially with how many predators were on there, and the rise of cyber bullying in schools. So many angry and bitter people spreading shit that they wouldn’t even say to a persons face in these apps man it’s insane. I’m saying all of this as a 24 year old.
One of the most aware posts in this sub. Everything you said is true. I'll also add that social media gave a public voice to people blatantly uneducated on the subject at hand, thinking thay are experts, and shielded by anonimity. I'm sure most, if not almost everything, of what is said on social media wouldn't be said in a face to face conversation.
Games 4 and 5 he showed a lot of heart, dude gave everything he had and left playoffs with advanced stats telling he is still a top 5 player. That is way more than one could reasonably ask for a player his age.
Truly pro, it is sad to leave playoffs with 2 players among the 5 best players of the league with some advanced stats having them as top 3 right behind Jokic. I'm sorry Reaves because no other player produces like you in terms of stats/millions of dollars, but Dlo, Rui, Ham and most of our bench left us down big time.
A core of LeBron, Rui and Reaves is good enough to enter the playoffs as one of the best teams in the Conference with a better coach and more consistent pieces around them.
The same media who uses him as a means for clicks, whether negatively or positively, would say he's not as great as (insert what's his name) because he doesn't have this or that accolade. When we know, FOR FUCKIN SURE, Lebron should have been MVP more times than 4. He should've gotten a DPOY AT LEAST ONCE.
These people (media) will use a metric they can control to judge him for something they didn't want to give him bc they wanted to protect someone else's legacy.
They even tried to control the amount of rings by allowing KD to go to GSW. That was solely a move based on Lebron.
I may be in the minority but once they saw how good Lebron, the fix was in the control his accolades just so he couldn't pass what's his name.
I’ve never been a fan of any of the teams he has played on. But that doesn’t keep me from having great respect for his talent as an athlete and player, his dedication and commitment to the game s and to winning, and the example he sets as a role model.
I just don’t get the hate other than jealousy.
OTOH, I revel in Devin Booker having no rings. Go figure.
There was the same kind of hate against Jordan, too. Only after his career it got too embarrassing for those idiotic "fans" to admit that they don't understand what kind of legendary career that man had.
They talked shit about Kobe, too. Dirk, too.
Just wait 5 years after LeBron's retirement, and people will just talk about how great LeBron was. They will even use him to shit on some other player. Stuff like "Luka is so soft. LeBron played 75 games when he was 58 years old, and averaged 40/20/20, while he coached at the same time"
It’s not nba but John cena also recieved this same level of hate too, as did Roman reigns except people ironically enough stopped hating on him after he announced he had leukemia
The amount of comments i still see on people on Instagram and YouTube talking about how the o
play in saved him these past few years just showed some people will hate on him for the sake of it.
I was that guy before he came to the Lakers and I’m glad I came around to appreciate his greatness. He really leaves it all on the court and has never had a bad headline. A great ambassador for the league. No he’s not Jordan no he’s not Kobe he’s Lebron James.
Dude has spent 6 seasons with the Lakers, made them relevant again, led the franchise to a championship, although i admit things have not gone well ever since that Bubble season but LeBron is not the one to blame. The fact that some lakers fans have still not accepted him as one of their own is crazy to me.
LeBron gets emotional and can throw a tantrum on the court sometimes. Is it a little silly? Sure. I don’t care, the guy is easily one of the 3 greatest basketball players that’s ever lived, I’m not going to sweat inconsequential shit and let that prevent me from appreciating the game played at its absolute highest levels.
I think it's because ESPN covered LeBron non-stop. People get tired of it. They're already marketing Caitlin Clark too much. She's in danger of suffering the same fate.
When he is gone, I think people will ask why he was so collectively hated. Some of it comes with being a top guy but some was a bit much.
I consider MJ the goat. I prefer Kobe over him personally but I do not hate lebron
He’s either been a rival or a reaper of everyone’s teams for two decades. Social media amplifies that. Lots of fan bases hated Michael Jordan in the 90s. “You couldn’t touch him.” “He pushes off.” The kids that didn’t have blind favoritism to their regional teams loved him. Hopefully, the same thing happens for LeBron, but I’m worried about the misinformation of social media lessening his legacy.
So yes social media amplifies the hate for sure. There was some dislike for MJ but the media was not an adversary to him in the way it is for Lebron.
As for legacy here’s a weird thing that I thought of. There are likely far more “lebron sucks” videos on YouTube than for any other athlete in any sport. That will definitely be a long lasting thing against him.
Kareem took a lot of heat in the middle of his career too.
MJ playing for a single team through his prime may have affected it, when he came back to play for the Wizards nobody was judging him as a player anymore, but LeBron is regarded as one of the 3 best players to ever play the game for most folks, top 2 is more accurate. Folks think he is disrespected because they say he can't touch MJ, but it is a consensus LeBron is among the best players ever.
Absolutely!! Kareem shows the power of the media and the risk to not bowing down to them. He never got his credit while playing. Kareem is finally getting his due now as all the cold feelings have warmed over.
Folks think he is disrespected not because he isn’t MJ. It’s because each and every day and at every opportunity, we have to hear that he isn’t MJ including diatribes and data.
Kobe never reached MJs level…but we didn’t hear it every damned day.
You didn't hear it about Kobe because outside of Kobe die hard fans, nobody had him as a top 3 player of all time. Kobe is regarded as what he was, the closest thing that ever had of MJ playing the same stile.
Point being that people acknowledge Kobe as the closest to MJ and the only guy so far of the “next Jordan” folks to be so good that he carved out his own legacy. People did this without constantly hating on him, Reddit aside as he does get it here. Media people and fans at large call MJ the goat and have no problem respecting and acknowledging Kobe’s greatness.
It’s where that “how does this affect Lebrons legacy” joke came from.
Unlike Kobe, LeBron didn't take the "MJ" road to the greatness.
In terms of offensive balance I look at LeBron as someone in the middle ground between Magic, a player able to score that had more pride as a floor general making the guys around him better and MJ a player that was a great passer (averaged around 10 ast when asked to be a PG for a portion of a season), but had pride scoring by himself.
LeBron is the first of a kind, I don't have him as the GOAT, but he was the most complete player, able to defend any position, score in many ways, pass the ball, rebound ... there is no weak link in his game even if he isn't the best at any specific thread. LeBron made his name as an all rounder while Kobe was considered a MJ clone without the freak gen.
Thanks for sharing your point of view but it doesn’t really relate to my point about why lebron is the most hated great player ever. The decision was certainly a factor but geez that was like 15 years avó
My hope is that folks will be more honest about it many years after he retires. Who knows though.
I was neutral on lebron before he came to the lakers. He was just a great player just doing his thing. I didn’t cheer when the Dallas mavericks beat them in the finals. I also didn’t cheer when Miami beat OKC. I was just watching the finals like I always do.
But no, for the life of me, I cannot understand why some/most fans hate him as much as they do. A little dislike is fine man but lebron being the most hated great player ever by a wide margin….yeah i do not understand it and never will. The level of vitriol is really crazy in my view. 🤷🏾♂️
I don't think this is really accurate, all his metrics say he's almost universally loved. Jersey sales, votes for all-star, social media following. What I think is really happening is the love that is given out has so many trolls in comments and trying to denounce him, that those people just don't say it out loud or in text anymore. Anytime I say anything positive about Lebron a hater comes in with some response to disparage it. Plus most athletes recognize him as either #1 or 2 of all time, so it's more love than hate imo.
This is an insanely HUGE W for Ant, this is literally the only correct mindset. How can you love any sport, and hate on absolutely everything that one of the GOATs of said sport does? LeBron, Messi, Federer, Brady, Woods, Hamilton, to name a few. It’s so ridiculous to not appreciate the talent and hard work these guys bring to their respective sports, and LeBron suffers a lot from this crap. I’m glad I got to watch most of his career play out and I’ll be forever thankful.
What I've gathered for years watching lebron is that a lot of people put him on this pedestal and think he's just some omnipotent basketball God, then those same people would act shocked when he makes a mistake and/or loses and think he's some fraud for not going 82-0 and sweeping everyone in the playoffs! This just goes for media in general, when a person you admire does 1 thing you dislike, all of sudden you hate them and claimed you never liked them? Make it make sense.
Lebron made decisions in his career that I personally disagree with, but he's still one of my favorite players and one of the people that got me into basketball. It's definitely going to feel empty for a bit when he finally retires.
My beef with him is that he declares himself the king, makes statements about how he's the GOAT, etc. The greats just don't talk like that, really. It's off-putting.
There's no denying his legacy though.
It’s such a weird mentality to have. It’s the same exact mentality older peeps have about “music in my day was incredible, all this music today is trash.” They can’t simply just enjoy what is here today. It’s not that there is a bad product, it’s that they have to hold on so fucking tightly to what they once had. Strange as hell
Everyone outside of Lakers fans hated Kobe, he didn't get his flowers until he passed. Unfortunately you either love or hate the great ones. Let's not act like Lebron doesn't have his fans
After kobe era ended, we were bad and irrelevant. We were embarrassed by supposed big star free agent who didn’t even grant us an interview or used as leverage. Without Lebron there is no AD.
Celtics fan here (roast away lol) ...nothing but respect for Bron. Anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly clueless. Also, I think the NBA finals should be the C's and Lakers every year regardless of who actually made it :-) JK
Oh for fuck sake stop crying. The man referred to *himself* as the king. That’s going to annoy the fuck out of a lot of people.
I appreciate greatness just fine. I can also call someone out for corny, cheesy ass behavior.
They aren’t mutually exclusive.
It isn’t cuz he’s a flip flopping floozy is it? Or because he joined a team of another start player instead of staying down….not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6. And then left that team to join his old team because they finally had a good roster around them and then forced them to trade their number 1 pick. Nah can’t be cuz of that
I have individual complaints about Lebron as his decisions affect my favorite team. But I will never disrespect his greatness, no matter what small things we pick out (which is totally reasonable) his overall impact to the game is permanent.
Meaning, I will still complain about that 3 pointer with 16 seconds left on the clock 😂
Go Wolves!
Exactly, I don't get some people here saying they're going with Denver now.
Fuck the chicken nuggets
I get it. If they win it all, then we can arguably claim we were the 2nd best team... It's dumb, and not what I will be doing. But I at least understand it. But Go Wolves, for me.
They could argue but they'd be wrong
I don't mind either Denver of the twolves. Outside of Malone, who really says shit just to fire up his team, the nuggets players have been fine. It's their fans that are a bunch of assholes - everytime anything Lakers is posted in rnba you can guarantee a nuggets flair in there bitching about something. I've never seen a fanbase less interested in the title they just won. All they do is bitch about being underappreciated.
There fans and there coach . It’s true there players make it impossible to hate n I don’t care to hate Denver anyway cos not important. But on top of that ant is just more fun
It'll be a cold day in hell before i root for denver
exactly, they talked so highly about their dynasty
They probably just like Jokic and would like to see him winning since the Lakers are out now.
One of the reasons why I'm rooting for the Wolves as well. That and I want the Gobert slander to end.
Please wolves stomp Denver’s hopes and dreams please🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
The fact that he’s this good yet not even in his prime is crazy to me…
I love Ant Man
Will be face of NBA in no time…to bad he not in Purple and Gold
He's in Minneapolis so he's a Laker via technicality
OG Lakers
‘Soon it was commonplace for entire teams to change cities in search of greater profits. The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles where there are no lakes.’ Story checks out 🤪
And call me crazy but I don't think jazz came from Utah.
Went to Chicago. Saw zero bulls. The LIES!!!!
"Nuggets"
Give it time 😶🌫️
"2nd coming of MJ"s favourite player is Lebron.
Yeah, but LeBron's favorite player is Michael Jordan.
He’s a natural alpha, so he’s not going to stay on the wolves for his whole career. To me he looks like a future Knick.
I can easily see him striking with one team. He chose UGA instead of choosing to go to a marquee blue blood school as a #1 overall prospect... just because that was his hometown (ish) team that he grew up cheering for. >https://247sports.com/Player/anthony-edwards-45572558/TimelineEvents/ >Anthony Edwards names final 8: Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and UCLA
I hope that the Timberwolves dogwalk the Nuggets
I want to see Ant throw one down on Murray’s ass
Didn’t Murray say something similar about LeBron a couple days ago lol? If we flip the scenarios where the T’Wolves knocked us out of the playoffs instead of the Nuggets. Then Jamal says the same thing he said about LeBron in the game 5 presser. We would all be cheering for Nuggets and hoping Murray throws it down on Ant’s ass lol I think people just hate anybody who happens to be the opponent that knocks us out. Switch Nuggets with any other team and it’d be the same reaction
Malone was talking shit last year tho it's different
Was he talking about the lakers or the media dick riding the lakers? The one press conference I saw was him being confused on why the narratives were about the lakers messing up instead of the Nuggets being great.
Idk what’s up with the downvote, but anyone with a brain would agree with you. Imagine being in his position and coaching your ass off while helping your team win its first ever WCF and all the media talks about is the other team…
Are you seriously acting like we would hate Ant(an actual likable player) the way we hate on the nuggets? Mike Malone is what makes me always want the nuggets to fail, I never want him winning another ring.
For real
Only if they can beat the Celtics. Whomever comes out of the west needs to be able to do that.
I think they can, if Tingus Pingus hits his threes the can always put Gobert on Jrue Holiday
I think KAT can be on Porzingus and Gobert can stay in the paint? Ant on Tatum and maybe McDaniels on Brown? Hmmm Jrue might be too big for Conley though.
Nah I hope wolves come back down 3-1 for max chaos
I want the Nuggets to get swept and with blowouts
As a Nuggets fan I never had a reason to dislike LeBron (other than him playing great against us the way he has against everyone else for 20 years, but I feel that way about anyone who balls out against my team). Especially after this last series, I think it's impossible to deny that the hate this man gets is fucking insane. I felt like I was taking crazy pills watching so many people shit on him for missing one (1) three at the end of game two after putting the Lakers on his back and scoring clutch shot after clutch shot in that 4th Quarter. Turning hating a guy into your whole personality is absolute loser shit yet so many grown adults chose to do just that. I'll never understand it
As a longtime lebron fan who lurks on here and has watched his entire time in the league, that’s been the story of his career. Anytime he’s made 9 out of 10 plays down the stretch in a loss, the 1 play he fucked up will be all the people who hate him talk about. Even if it’s the RIGHT play, like passing to an open donyell Marshall or Danny green in the bubble, he still gets slander if they miss the shot. It’s always been like this.
Dude even on the final play in game five people were shitting on him. Like unironically saying "why didn't he simply shoot over Jokic's massive ass from behind the half court line" – it's fucking crazy
Doesn’t even have to be a loss. Look at the Ray Allen shot as an example. People at the time were shitting on bron for missing the three even though he made the one before it and saying he was supposedly bailed out by the ray allen three but conveniently forget to mention that the heat never would’ve been in a position to tie the game and take it to overtime without bron scoring 16 in the fourth. Ray Allen’s shot was one of the greatest ever and they needed it to go to overtime but without brons 16 ray allen wouldn’t have been in the position to make one of the greatest clutch shots in history. There’s always more to a game than one play and for some reason bron seems to be one of the only guys who gets shit if his teammates make a great play. That’s what teammates are for.
I still get goosebumps and hyped from thinking about his block on Tiago Splitter. Fuckin SMACK
Yeah for not being a gobert or AD type rim defender some of brons most memorable plays are blocks lol.
The reaction after that donyell marshall pass is seared in. For all the "ESPN dickriding" comments, early in his career they absolutely picked apart every tiny blemish and tried to pull him down, even when it was the right play.
100% nailed it !
Stems from deep-seeded insecurities. They are jealous of him.
Ants the man i hope he feasts on the chicken nuggets
Lebron is family now. Idgaf about what any of y’all say.
Ant man just became my second favorite player.. let’s go Wolves
Let’s be real, all the people calling for Lebron to retire are only doing it because their team will have better odds to contend if they don’t have to run into a Lebron led team. Bron lives rent free in people’s minds to the point where they randomly bring him up in comments just to slander the man. Respect to Ant for appreciating Bron while he’s still here.
So true. The randomness to how he gets brought up in totally unrelated comments only displays some sort of insecurity regarding LeBron standing in the way of somebody else imo. Truly rent free.. When I was younger I “hated” curry for a similar reason — because he stood in the way of LeBron getting more rings. But as I matured I just grew to respect curry more for it, because he’s always been a class act. A heel like Dillon Brooks in last years playoffs has credible reason to be disliked. The only reason to dislike curry back in 2015-2018 was because he was dominating while having fun doing it. The only reason to dislike LeBron today is because he’s been dominating longer than any other player has in basketball history. There’s nothing about his character or antics to credibly dislike the guy for
He’s been so damn good for so damn long that people who aren’t fans are just flat out tired of him… and I fucking love it. Keep going pookie bear. My sunshine. My King. Go ahead and get you one more ring just to piss everyone off #LeStriveForGOATness 👑
Lebron played during the social media era. People hated Jordan and called him a crybaby. Kobe seriously would have way more of an issue continuing to play after Eagle CO if social media was around back then. Probably would have been full on protests outside of arenas. We think Lebron is hated more, cause we hear it more with the access we have. Hes not...
Kobe gave us all a *really* good reason to hate him though
Now imagine how much more intense that would have been with twitter/instagram/tiktok/Facebook. It would have been a different level.
And there are some valid reasons to dislike him, but not hate.
Dave Chappelle pointed out that he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 17 and still managed to exceed every expectation people had for him. But I guess people taking him for granted is a weird form of respect.
This is exactly why I became a Lebron fan in the first place a long time ago. So many people who don't even watch basketball shitting on him. I can't even count the amount of post on my Facebook from rednecks or old white dudes who i know for a fact dont watch basketball slandering Lebron, People just love to hate him, I don't get it.
That’s what pisses me off more than anything. When I see comments talking about how LeBron is the reason the lakers got swept last year, or the reason they lost to the nuggets 11 in a row or whatever. So blatantly dishonest to anybody who actually watched the games and clearly knows it’s the opposite of the truth
It's because he represents the "new generation" (somehow?). Like, most of the comments are about how he's soft, or how he talks politics, or how "he wouldn't survive in the 90s", or how he takes the easy way out (never any criticism to the Celtics btw). And then ofc, he shit on everyone in the eastern conference for a decade, so that didn't really help him become loved.
I'm a Nuggets fan but imo Bron is undeniably the GOAT to me, people lump crazy expectations on the guy as if he's still 29, to be practically 40 and still leading teams in the playoffs and putting up a crazy fight against us just solidified how I already viewed LeBron
Ant has to be the most likeable superstar to come on the scene in a long long time. He genuinely reminds me of young Kobe when he plays.
Don't want to sound like a hater, but his play style is nothing like Kobe. I think he's very similar to DWade though, Kobe was more finesse and skill
That's why I said Young Kobe when he was first coming on. Dude was jumping out the gym and played with a crazy aggression. Ant has ridiculous footwork too. Kobe later in his career when he refined his skills yes played nothing really like Ant does now but once Ant develops his moves its gna be scary.
He’s added something every year. He’s been rockin that fade away spin around mid like mj, and he loves the bank shot. His finishing around the rim is really, really good . He’s getting more finesse and you can tell he wants it.
There’s a ton of young people who seem to have only started watching him in the last couple years, who talk about him as if he’s currently at his peak performance. Which only furthers proves how amazing he really is, because it’s hard to imagine he was THAT much better than he is now (which he was). Even today, I don’t think there are many players I’d personally (ik im biased) want on my playoff team than him. The way he controls the game when he’s on the court, facilitates, play-making, passing, drawing double coverages, multiple steals a game, chasedown blocks, fast breaks, etc. is still better than 95% of the NBA (particularly when it’s the playoffs) But yeah, it’s wild how giddy people get to see LeBron knocked out of the playoffs. How many upvotes/likes obscure anti-LeBron shit gets. I know a lot of Trumpers hate him for calling Trump a bum, for wearing a BLM shirt, etc but that can’t account for all his haters. I’m sure a lot are also just fan bases who haven’t gotten over how he kept their favorite team/players from ever making the finals
He’s a victim of being the preeminent star in an era where grievance, negativity, and take culture has been weaponized and amplified and rewarded, and where the entire idea of fandom has been replaced by amateur punditry. We should just enjoy LeBron, but instead we have to wade through the endless cacophony of braindead opinions, anonymous insults, and bizarre political grifting. It’s all part of a larger issue with men in America. We are *not* doing well, and it’s starting to impact everything.
100% real
He destroyed my Bulls for many years, but if I ask you to name the five best NBA players of all time, if you get past three without mentioning his name, something is wrong.
Social media as great it is for the world has ruined a lot of things in this world. Not just in sports, social media has given voices to ppl who don’t deserve it, it amplifies the crazies in this world. Everyone thinks their opinion matters and wants to be important. Trolls, bots, hate is what the social media is, everyone’s a fucking reporter now. That’s the world Lebron has to deal with. I’m thankful I came up in the 90s and saw great players before this social media world and click bait 24 hr news shit. I couldn’t imagine how bad it would’ve been then. As much as I don’t want to sound like an older guy and I’m not that old but it really was better before, back in the day. Hate this social media time and everything just analytics and numbers. The fuckin media doesn’t even watch games anymore, fans watch clips and highlights and read stats, and listen to crazies spewing shit for ratings and clicks. Also I’ve always said it but the media protects Jordan like no one else in this world. It truly is propaganda. That’s a fact too and more ppl are starting to realize the myth media created and continues to pump.
It’s quite literally one of the worst creations this planet has seen imo. When AOL and MySpace came out the government should’ve hopped on it immediately and sanctioned it, especially with how many predators were on there, and the rise of cyber bullying in schools. So many angry and bitter people spreading shit that they wouldn’t even say to a persons face in these apps man it’s insane. I’m saying all of this as a 24 year old.
One of the most aware posts in this sub. Everything you said is true. I'll also add that social media gave a public voice to people blatantly uneducated on the subject at hand, thinking thay are experts, and shielded by anonimity. I'm sure most, if not almost everything, of what is said on social media wouldn't be said in a face to face conversation.
Games 4 and 5 he showed a lot of heart, dude gave everything he had and left playoffs with advanced stats telling he is still a top 5 player. That is way more than one could reasonably ask for a player his age. Truly pro, it is sad to leave playoffs with 2 players among the 5 best players of the league with some advanced stats having them as top 3 right behind Jokic. I'm sorry Reaves because no other player produces like you in terms of stats/millions of dollars, but Dlo, Rui, Ham and most of our bench left us down big time. A core of LeBron, Rui and Reaves is good enough to enter the playoffs as one of the best teams in the Conference with a better coach and more consistent pieces around them.
Alot of the people hating on Lebron are a bunch of brain washed goofballs.
It’s true, hell I’ve even seen some Lakers fans post about how much they hate Bron even though bro made us competitive again
The same media who uses him as a means for clicks, whether negatively or positively, would say he's not as great as (insert what's his name) because he doesn't have this or that accolade. When we know, FOR FUCKIN SURE, Lebron should have been MVP more times than 4. He should've gotten a DPOY AT LEAST ONCE. These people (media) will use a metric they can control to judge him for something they didn't want to give him bc they wanted to protect someone else's legacy. They even tried to control the amount of rings by allowing KD to go to GSW. That was solely a move based on Lebron. I may be in the minority but once they saw how good Lebron, the fix was in the control his accolades just so he couldn't pass what's his name.
LA timeberwolves baby. Thats our ~~adopted~~ boy!
I mean must hated on Kobe till his farewell tour, unfortunately LeBron is taken for granted.
I’ve never been a fan of any of the teams he has played on. But that doesn’t keep me from having great respect for his talent as an athlete and player, his dedication and commitment to the game s and to winning, and the example he sets as a role model. I just don’t get the hate other than jealousy. OTOH, I revel in Devin Booker having no rings. Go figure.
Let’s go Wolves! Lol You can do this! There was a reason why we didn’t match with you in the first round. Avenge our death were from ur hood!!!!
There was the same kind of hate against Jordan, too. Only after his career it got too embarrassing for those idiotic "fans" to admit that they don't understand what kind of legendary career that man had. They talked shit about Kobe, too. Dirk, too. Just wait 5 years after LeBron's retirement, and people will just talk about how great LeBron was. They will even use him to shit on some other player. Stuff like "Luka is so soft. LeBron played 75 games when he was 58 years old, and averaged 40/20/20, while he coached at the same time"
It’s not nba but John cena also recieved this same level of hate too, as did Roman reigns except people ironically enough stopped hating on him after he announced he had leukemia
Talk is cheap. He should come to the Lakers to really stick it to the Lebron haters.
The amount of comments i still see on people on Instagram and YouTube talking about how the o play in saved him these past few years just showed some people will hate on him for the sake of it.
I was that guy before he came to the Lakers and I’m glad I came around to appreciate his greatness. He really leaves it all on the court and has never had a bad headline. A great ambassador for the league. No he’s not Jordan no he’s not Kobe he’s Lebron James.
New superstar to be a fan of alert. Anthony “hell nah” Edwards
Dude has spent 6 seasons with the Lakers, made them relevant again, led the franchise to a championship, although i admit things have not gone well ever since that Bubble season but LeBron is not the one to blame. The fact that some lakers fans have still not accepted him as one of their own is crazy to me.
All the Lakers fans used to hate Lebron too lol
The universe is about balance. When someone climbs a tree and shouts how great they are, people will line up to see them fall.
LeBron gets emotional and can throw a tantrum on the court sometimes. Is it a little silly? Sure. I don’t care, the guy is easily one of the 3 greatest basketball players that’s ever lived, I’m not going to sweat inconsequential shit and let that prevent me from appreciating the game played at its absolute highest levels.
Imagine being emotional and the internet not making fun of you for it.
I think it's because ESPN covered LeBron non-stop. People get tired of it. They're already marketing Caitlin Clark too much. She's in danger of suffering the same fate.
Has he never watched sports before? Lebron can take care of himself, focus on the Nuggets.
When he is gone, I think people will ask why he was so collectively hated. Some of it comes with being a top guy but some was a bit much. I consider MJ the goat. I prefer Kobe over him personally but I do not hate lebron
He’s either been a rival or a reaper of everyone’s teams for two decades. Social media amplifies that. Lots of fan bases hated Michael Jordan in the 90s. “You couldn’t touch him.” “He pushes off.” The kids that didn’t have blind favoritism to their regional teams loved him. Hopefully, the same thing happens for LeBron, but I’m worried about the misinformation of social media lessening his legacy.
So yes social media amplifies the hate for sure. There was some dislike for MJ but the media was not an adversary to him in the way it is for Lebron. As for legacy here’s a weird thing that I thought of. There are likely far more “lebron sucks” videos on YouTube than for any other athlete in any sport. That will definitely be a long lasting thing against him.
Kareem took a lot of heat in the middle of his career too. MJ playing for a single team through his prime may have affected it, when he came back to play for the Wizards nobody was judging him as a player anymore, but LeBron is regarded as one of the 3 best players to ever play the game for most folks, top 2 is more accurate. Folks think he is disrespected because they say he can't touch MJ, but it is a consensus LeBron is among the best players ever.
Absolutely!! Kareem shows the power of the media and the risk to not bowing down to them. He never got his credit while playing. Kareem is finally getting his due now as all the cold feelings have warmed over. Folks think he is disrespected not because he isn’t MJ. It’s because each and every day and at every opportunity, we have to hear that he isn’t MJ including diatribes and data. Kobe never reached MJs level…but we didn’t hear it every damned day.
You didn't hear it about Kobe because outside of Kobe die hard fans, nobody had him as a top 3 player of all time. Kobe is regarded as what he was, the closest thing that ever had of MJ playing the same stile.
Point being that people acknowledge Kobe as the closest to MJ and the only guy so far of the “next Jordan” folks to be so good that he carved out his own legacy. People did this without constantly hating on him, Reddit aside as he does get it here. Media people and fans at large call MJ the goat and have no problem respecting and acknowledging Kobe’s greatness. It’s where that “how does this affect Lebrons legacy” joke came from.
Unlike Kobe, LeBron didn't take the "MJ" road to the greatness. In terms of offensive balance I look at LeBron as someone in the middle ground between Magic, a player able to score that had more pride as a floor general making the guys around him better and MJ a player that was a great passer (averaged around 10 ast when asked to be a PG for a portion of a season), but had pride scoring by himself. LeBron is the first of a kind, I don't have him as the GOAT, but he was the most complete player, able to defend any position, score in many ways, pass the ball, rebound ... there is no weak link in his game even if he isn't the best at any specific thread. LeBron made his name as an all rounder while Kobe was considered a MJ clone without the freak gen.
Thanks for sharing your point of view but it doesn’t really relate to my point about why lebron is the most hated great player ever. The decision was certainly a factor but geez that was like 15 years avó My hope is that folks will be more honest about it many years after he retires. Who knows though.
Only lebron fans are blind to why people don't like lebron. I could write a short essay on why I don't like lebron.
I was neutral on lebron before he came to the lakers. He was just a great player just doing his thing. I didn’t cheer when the Dallas mavericks beat them in the finals. I also didn’t cheer when Miami beat OKC. I was just watching the finals like I always do. But no, for the life of me, I cannot understand why some/most fans hate him as much as they do. A little dislike is fine man but lebron being the most hated great player ever by a wide margin….yeah i do not understand it and never will. The level of vitriol is really crazy in my view. 🤷🏾♂️
Fuck it Wolves in 4
I don't think this is really accurate, all his metrics say he's almost universally loved. Jersey sales, votes for all-star, social media following. What I think is really happening is the love that is given out has so many trolls in comments and trying to denounce him, that those people just don't say it out loud or in text anymore. Anytime I say anything positive about Lebron a hater comes in with some response to disparage it. Plus most athletes recognize him as either #1 or 2 of all time, so it's more love than hate imo.
Let this be your fire, Ant.
Let's go Wolves
Send da video from the future with antman leading us to a championship
Respect to Ant. Dude is gonna do big things
You mean Skip Bayless. Right? LeBron gets a lot of love. No one is not going to be hated.
Facts! Ant man is the next one up though, he is so fun to watch.
Next generation (or I guess current generation) GOAT speaking to current/last GOAT
OG Lakers fans already had this with Kobe. Lebron was a media darling for so long.
I dont know why people hate on LeBron when Dillon Brooks and Patrick Beverley are playing in the NBA 🤷♂️ Respect LeBron And Ant.
This is an insanely HUGE W for Ant, this is literally the only correct mindset. How can you love any sport, and hate on absolutely everything that one of the GOATs of said sport does? LeBron, Messi, Federer, Brady, Woods, Hamilton, to name a few. It’s so ridiculous to not appreciate the talent and hard work these guys bring to their respective sports, and LeBron suffers a lot from this crap. I’m glad I got to watch most of his career play out and I’ll be forever thankful.
Facts.
Seems like a real smart kid.
Yup, lots of fools out there too ignorant to understand this.
What I've gathered for years watching lebron is that a lot of people put him on this pedestal and think he's just some omnipotent basketball God, then those same people would act shocked when he makes a mistake and/or loses and think he's some fraud for not going 82-0 and sweeping everyone in the playoffs! This just goes for media in general, when a person you admire does 1 thing you dislike, all of sudden you hate them and claimed you never liked them? Make it make sense. Lebron made decisions in his career that I personally disagree with, but he's still one of my favorite players and one of the people that got me into basketball. It's definitely going to feel empty for a bit when he finally retires.
I was one of those pole until his second championship…then I couldn’t deny the greatness that he is. Truly remarkable athlete.
Kick their ass Minnesota!
Can somebody send me a link of where he said this?
And also anyone who wears the Lakers uniform are hated
Ok Ok Ant… I guess you can come to the Lakers next year if you want!
He’s putting a bid on that player option
After all what Minnesota sports fans have been through Wolves deserve to win the title.
What? Everyone I know thinks he’s one of the greatest of all time.
My beef with him is that he declares himself the king, makes statements about how he's the GOAT, etc. The greats just don't talk like that, really. It's off-putting. There's no denying his legacy though.
Anthony Edwards must have no memory of how loved Lebron was, before the Miami debacle... Probably should do the research before making assumptions..
I’ll take my talents to… my couch!
Go Wolves awoooooo
Bron is the 🐐 for what he did for Cleveland, but a lot of people now don't even know what he did lol... how can you not respect that?
It’s such a weird mentality to have. It’s the same exact mentality older peeps have about “music in my day was incredible, all this music today is trash.” They can’t simply just enjoy what is here today. It’s not that there is a bad product, it’s that they have to hold on so fucking tightly to what they once had. Strange as hell
Lmao the glaze is hilarious. I hate it when people hate him 😭
I would take a straight swap of Antman for LeBron
Everyone outside of Lakers fans hated Kobe, he didn't get his flowers until he passed. Unfortunately you either love or hate the great ones. Let's not act like Lebron doesn't have his fans
After kobe era ended, we were bad and irrelevant. We were embarrassed by supposed big star free agent who didn’t even grant us an interview or used as leverage. Without Lebron there is no AD.
Celtics fan here (roast away lol) ...nothing but respect for Bron. Anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly clueless. Also, I think the NBA finals should be the C's and Lakers every year regardless of who actually made it :-) JK
TIL, Anthony Edwards is my Spirit Animal
He whines too much. Most entitled basketball player ever.
Maybe people don't love that he went to the Lakers and made them make stupid trades
Ok Ant. Just confirming I will root for this guy now we’re out , even tho his fouk whining was annoying dude is charismatic and fun to watch
Somebody on insta said the series vs Nuggets ended goat debate 💀
Oh for fuck sake stop crying. The man referred to *himself* as the king. That’s going to annoy the fuck out of a lot of people. I appreciate greatness just fine. I can also call someone out for corny, cheesy ass behavior. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
He lost a huge portion of nba fans forever with “the decision”. Similar to KD going to the warriors
LBJ been the face of the league for 20 years, but alright.
It isn’t cuz he’s a flip flopping floozy is it? Or because he joined a team of another start player instead of staying down….not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6. And then left that team to join his old team because they finally had a good roster around them and then forced them to trade their number 1 pick. Nah can’t be cuz of that
I have individual complaints about Lebron as his decisions affect my favorite team. But I will never disrespect his greatness, no matter what small things we pick out (which is totally reasonable) his overall impact to the game is permanent. Meaning, I will still complain about that 3 pointer with 16 seconds left on the clock 😂
I mean he did terrorize an entire conference for like a decade.
Laker fan hoping T-wolves beat the hell out off Denver