"I've never seen so many people be so happy to see an athlete fail more than LeBron” - Anthony Edwards

[Billy Goat]

To veer off topic a bit: Can people PLEASE stop throwing the word narcissist around if you don’t know the actual clinical definition of the word? Having a huge ego does not mean a person has narcissistic personality disorder.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Tattooing chosen one on yourself is the clinical definition of narcissist

[JDR720]

MJ has the benefit of being the face of the most popular basketball shoes ever and the other MJ-era media stuff like the Spacejam movie. So while yes, MJ is also a terrible person (worse than LeBron by a lot) and also a terrible NBA owner, he has the benefit of a few very popular things to balance him out.

Kobe was a ball-hoggging chucker with a bad personality to boot. But since he died, his hate has died down a lot too. He also only played for the Lakers, a historic franchise with a large fanbase. Which I'm sure helps.

LeBron meanwhile doesn't have the off-court boost. He also doesn't have the Kobe boost, be it playing for one team or being dead.

But his negatives are still there. Some of the hate comes from the GOAT debate, but a lot of it comes from the Miami stuff. Forming super teams. Getting coaches fired, his media people and himself manipulating the media and so on. Like I said before, he comes off as scripted and fake a lot of the time.

Other great players don't have people dislike them so much if at all.

Nobody dislikes Steph.
Hardly anyone outside of Embiid fans dislike Jokic.
Nobody disliked Duncan.

Just winning and being an ATG player doesn't make you disliked/hated. You have to have other stuff to go along with it. Whether it's personality, how you played, off-court stuff or a combination of all 3.

[chrismikayla]

To veer off topic a bit: Can people PLEASE stop throwing the word narcissist around if you don’t know the actual clinical definition of the word? Having a huge ego does not mean a person has narcissistic personality disorder.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Tattooing chosen one on yourself is the clinical definition of narcissist

No it is not. You don’t look at one trait but there are actually nine factors that go into diagnosing NPD. Extreme lack of empathy and concern for others is one of the traits. Lebron is the opposite of that.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[baldur]

lebron made so many mistakes, sometimes quit, and sometimes threw his teammates under the bus but it is impossible to ignore his greatness.

[KembaWalker]

I enjoy looking through my old LeBron posts. People think I’m a hater, I actually liked the guy longer than I remember

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1180716&p=31766141&hilit=Lebron#p31766141

This whole convo
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1172542&p=31175981&hilit=Lebron#p31175981

Yeah… it was definitely the decision though, you can see the disrespect growing

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1183117&p=31941512&hilit=Lebron#p31941512

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1185367&p=32082735&hilit=Lebron#p32082735

I mean that’s great you’re having some fun nostalgia on your relationship with Lebron on RealGM but I promise no one is clicking those links. And yall think Lebron is a delusional narcissist :lol Lebron haters really suffer from mental illness

That’s fine, I know most people here would rather rewrite history to what they wish was true and hurl insults than actually look at what happened. That’s humanity in a nutshell. Thats why I can only laugh when some message board weirdo starts trying to gauge the quality of mine or other people’s lives based on how much we favor a particular basketball player that they are very passionate about

[Billy Goat]

To veer off topic a bit: Can people PLEASE stop throwing the word narcissist around if you don’t know the actual clinical definition of the word? Having a huge ego does not mean a person has narcissistic personality disorder.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Tattooing chosen one on yourself is the clinical definition of narcissist

No it is not. You don’t look at one trait but there are actually nine factors that go into diagnosing NPD. Extreme lack of empathy and concern for others is one of the traits. Lebron is the opposite of that.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

lol


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f0qfABiNJEY/TY0G-DW3C-I/AAAAAAAACHo/cxXTWF_GbTc/LeBron.gif

[bledredwine]

Exactly.

Also listen this. Its voice of people, who despise coward running away from problems to different team with superstars.

Watch on YouTube

You guys have a point, these are all very valid reasons to dislike the guy. I personally don’t disagree with any of them.

But I constantly see you two posting almost solely anti-LeBron screeds, to the point where I quite literally can’t remember another post from either of you that wasn’t either about LeBron or tangentially related to how much you dislike him and how much better Jordan was etc. You are constantly and I do mean obsessively attempting to convince people to join you in your deeply rooted dislike of him.

Additionally you both have him in your signature, the appendix to every single post you make on this forum, so in a sense you do literally talk about LeBron in every single post you’ve made (thousands for both of you) on this forum.

So clearly he means quite a lot to you, deeply affects you enough to have him in your signature, consistently talk about him, consistently bring up your dislike and hatred for him. What is so special about him exactly? How has he affected you so deeply?

I've wondered the same thing. It's a borderline clinical obsession with them.

When posting, ask yourself the following questions-

1. Does my post sound like it’s AI generated?

2. What does this post contribute?

3. Is there any substance or are there any reasons in this post? Critical thinking?

4. Am I maintaining integrity with my post?

5. Am I saying anything hypocritical?

[Lalouie]

shuddup and play

[MavsDirk41]

Even though I prefer the NBA, one of the things that makes the NFL better is that it does not have fans who are so invested in tearing down legendary football players. NBA fanboys, though, get oxygen from taking shots at dudes who have brought excellence to the sport of basketball. One of the commentators in this thread actually referred to LeBron fans as a cult without realizing the even greater cult are the zealot LeBron detractors.

But if we are going to play this game of taking shots (at times personal.ones)at legit great NBA guys then let me go all in. I keep reading comments in this thread of people explaining their dislike of LeBron because of his so-called actions or behavior, often without providing context. Okay. Let me talk about Michael Jordan. With context.

Even though I am a much bigger fan of LeBron, there is no doubt that Jordan is the GOAT. I am old enough to have been around to watch Jordan during his prime and while there are elements of LeBron's game that are superior (passing, rebounding, seeing the whole court, involving his teammates more) and while his longevity as an elite-like productive player far exceeds Jordan's, MJ was such a dominant terror on the court and had such a superior post season track record that he deserves top billing on the greatest NBA list. Kareem may be second although he was before my time.

That said there were things I did not care for regarding Jordan. He belittled other players and belittled other coaches routinely. He and his teammates and coaches on the Bulls commonly used the press to deride lesser opponents. The equivalent would be if LeBron James and his Heat teammates had chosen to disparage , say, Roy Hibbert in between games of playoff series involving the Pacers and Heat. Like a high school jock king, if you were not part of his clique MJ could be ruthless to you, even if you were a member or staff of his own team. Its one thing to put a fire under your teammates, its quite another thing to be an a-hole. The way MJ treated a guy like Bill Cartwright was uncalled for, it was the act of a bully picking on the weakest guy in the room. The extent of how MJ would go to be derisive of his general manager Jerry Krause was crass and FAR WORST than what modern NBA get chewed out for doing to their coaches and their gms. Krause had his faults but Jordan made it personal to the extent of making fun of Krause's physical appearance. That was uncalled for and childish. He would do this through the media of which a dozen or so of Jordan worshippers (like Michael Wilbon) would always do his dirty work and spread the gospel; if Jordan had a problem with someone than they too would have a problem with that same person and go ahead to deride that individual in their columns and writeups. Krause is dead and gone but Jordan still couldn't stop himself from taking shots at the deceased in his ESPN doc series. Per usual Jordan made himself the victim.

That's another annoying thing about Jordan : his never-ending grudges. I understand using slights as motivation, but MJ could never let it go. You would think I. Thomas had had an affair with Jordan's wife considering the beef Jordan still has with him. Even worse was how Jordan's persecution complex led him to conjuring up slights against him in order to take it out on a particular player, even if that other player never disrespected him.

The media protected Jordan. The media tended to overlook or excuse his faults and occasional bad behavior. Wearing the flag over the Team USA uniform during the awarding of the gold medal in the 1992 Olympics in order to hide the insignia of a rival competitor to Nike? Could you imagine the pushback against LeBron if he had made a similar "business decision" in the midst of representing his country? Jordan was cheating on his wife with porn stars but only the celeb gossip media covered that. Jordan was a semi gambling addict who likely crossed paths with some shady characters when he fed that hunger. I do not believe the conspiracy theories that 1)Jordan's father was murdered in retaliation by men whom Jordan owed money to or 2)that Jordan retired because David Stern told him it was either that or him suspending Jordan over his gambling pursuits. But can you imagine how LeBron haters would go wild with theories and speculations if LeBron was in a similar circumstance?

And while some profess to prefer celebs who do not discuss political issues, Jordan was a downright coward when it came to addressing ANYTHING. Also from my perspective of rooting against MJ's Bulls throughout their great run, Jordan complained to refs way too often when not getting a favorable call. It didn't matter that he would get the benefit of the doubt 4 out of 5 times from refs, he could come across as being entitled as he frowned and walk over to a ref to talk with him if the refs blew the whistle on him. Jordan was in fact the first NBA star I heard fans cry about ( on sports talk radio) getting preferential treatment. That type of whining by NBA fans is all the rage now but the Jordan era introduced it.

Lets move on to Kobe. There are some great books and reporting out there that portray how Kobe was even a greater terror to his teammates, but in Kobe's case he did it from the jump. After coming directly out of high school! For his first six or so years he was more hated by his teammates than beloved by them. He intentionally isolated himself from doing any personal things with them offcourt. He came into the league with a diva complex, making a stance he would only accept being drafted by a small number of teams. Was that not arrogant? Shaq obviously was bad at staying in shape, but Kobe may be the only teammate that he despised for a prolonged time. Shaq may be revisionist about it now following Kobe's death, but there is too much reporting out there to deny this. Phil Jackson had to step away and take a break from coaching the Lakers because of issues he had with Kobe. Period. He eventually came back and the two of them put their differences aside. That does not change the fact that Kobe's personality and behavior rubbed him the wrong way.

Kobe was widely reported by LA journalists as being an extremely critical of and often petulant towards the Lakers front office. He held the threat of leaving the franchise over them pretty often. After getting his way with Shaq leaving, Kobe blamed the Lakers inability to make the playoffs on the Lakers management. When they brought back Phil Jackson but Kobe could not get the Lakers past the first round for multiple years, Kobe once more went on a tangent demanding better teammates if the Lakers wanted to keep him. Is this not the same thing people fault LeBron for?

Kobe had the benefit of being raised in an upperclass household by loving parents but ended up cutting ties to his entire family and abandoning them. This all began because they had doubts about Kobe's relationship and later marriage to his teen bride, Vanessa. I get how that would rub Kobe wrong but they were still his parents and to be perfectly frank based on what Kobe did that almost led to the end of marriage suggests his folks may have been on to something about his maturity. More on that later. I have heard that Kobe left nothing to his parents in his will. Have not confirmed this but if so that demonstrates a hell of a grudge. Personally I do tend to judge people by how they treat their kin, unless those kin were awful human beings.

Kobe was highly intelligent and professional. He was a true student of the game. Yet he still played too much Hero Ball. He was an inefficient version of Jordan, jacking up shots as he chased points. Never understood why fans found that fun to watch. Nonetheless I looked forward to Kobe's post-basketball career from a business perspective. He seemed on the verge of building a credible entertainment empire. However what I did not care for were his side gigs coaching up girl basketball way teams. That one report of Kobe deriding preteen girls for a losing performance as if he thought he was some drill instructor chewing out his marine recruits was so in character for Kobe. Others saw that as Mamba Mentality and used that view to excuse Kobe, as they had throughout his career when dealing with his teammates. I however saw that as a bit psychotic and another example of Kobe not grasping context.

However nothing tarnishes Kobe's legacy like Colorado. Tell me what other NBA star ended up stupidly inflicting so much damage to himself, what other star did something so morally reprehensible? At the very least he had an affair with a 19 year old member of a hotel staff. At the very worst he raped her. The fact that the young lady refused to testify in court means next to nothing. People should check out Thomas Boswell's reporting on the case and what Kobe and his army of lawyers did to make this lady's life miserable. There was a civil suit settlement in which Kobe had to give up loads of cash. And then everyone got collective amnesia. Fans. Media. The league. Everyone just pretended nothing ever happened and Kobe was mainly able to retain status as a good guy who was a great face for the NBA.

Why did I write all of this? I am taking aim at the hypocrisy that many in this thread have spread when theorizing that LeBron is widely hated because of his actions, his conduct, his behavior. What did LeBron do that was any worse than what MJ and Kobe did? Actually what did he do that comes close to the actions of those two guys? The answer is "nothing". So why is there more derision towards LeBron? The hate he gets says more about the people who personally dislike him than it says about him.

Well im old too and watched late 80s nba and beyond. Jordan, Kobe, and other superstar players like them have their faults. Jordan was an a-hole to his teammates and the way he treated Krause or dressed down Krause at times was uncalled for. Yea the dude gambled and bitched about no-calls like everybody else in the nba does. But his father was killed and what evidence do you have that Stern banned him instead of him retiring because of the death of his father lol? You are throwing conspiracy theories out about a player while calling people out for making up stuff about James. You see the hypocrisy in this?

.

Wow, you really have a reading disability.I made it more than clear that I do not believe any of the conspiracies regarding the death of Jordan’s father or his reason for retiring that first time. I instead wrote that if a similar incident had happened to LeBron, his countless detractors would be running wild with those speculations.

Typical response from a lebron james fan on here. Throw insults when my post to you did no such thing. I addressed reasons for not liking the guy and left off many. Your response seems like “im mad cause you dont like him and im gonna get mad and throw an insult.” Jordan was nonwhere near as unlikeable as James and was by far more charismatic. Kobe had the black stain of the Colorado incident and i didnt care for his antics when he was young. But he seem to grow out of that and I appreciated him more before his retirement. Jordan continually show down goat talk by respecting players of the past. Jordan from what i remember congratulated opposing players after a hard faught playoff exit. James the opposite. James just recently blamed his teammates for the 2011 finals loss. Never showed any accountability. I dont remember Jordan ever saying we lost cause my teammates werent good enough. Dont remember Jordan screaming about wanting his respect or having a shadow agency working his team behind closed doors. But you do you, just pipe down with the insults. They dont prove anything.

[KembaWalker]

Wow, you really have a reading disability.

If there is one thing you can count on with RealGM it’s LeBron fans hurling personal attacks, accusations of having some kind of pathetic life or mental disorder on people who have a different opinion of a basketball fan than them.

It’s so funny that any criticism of LeBron is deemed over the top irrational hatred but they say this stuff towards other people over an opinion of a basketball player and don’t see the completely hypocrisy.

[ShootersShoot]

Anti-Lebron hatred is a form of mental illness. A top 2 or 3 player all time, a good human being, and completely hated on by loser do nothings on the internet. It's a reflection of our low truth society.

At the same time, do people have to like him or root for him? I dont hate the guy, but he has made some off putting comments, the decision and flamboyant flopping throughout the years as well..like he just isnt a likeable person to me. Doesnt mean i wish him unwell or harm. I would congratulate him for a wonderful career if I ever had an opportunity to speak with him.. but fans are entitled to not like a player. And I dont think its weird to not like a person even though they are famous and elite at their craft or just because he has a clean criminal record

Have yall really never not liked someone even though they have never committed a crime or never punched anybody? By your logic, we should all like every nba player that has never done a crime and has donated money? What an ignorant mindset

Such a straw man’s argument. No one was stating you had to like or root for him. Instead some of you were called out for your cheap shots at him and your glaring hypocrisy. Most of you can’t even make rational arguments for why he is the off putting bad guy you try so hard to make him out to be.

If you want to call out folks for weird irrational hatred more power to u.

[nbafan38]

He certainly isn't horrible by any means but he says and does a lot of things that just rub people the wrong way.

See this in politics all the time in which detractors of an individual have the same talking points about the awful things a politician has been but cannot name too many legitimate offenses. Comes down to bs such as “he hates freedom.”

If LeBron really does “ a lot of things that rub people the wrong way” then why can’t you guys lay those cards out on the table for us? Should be easy to give a half dozen examples if there are really that many egregious acts by him. Something tells me if you could actually come up with a list of his faults it would demonstrate the pettiness of the folks who demonize him.

Most recent example just this past week he didn't shake the nuggets hands after game 5 loss (Aggregious no but the kind of thing that rubs people the wrong way).

[Marrrcuss]

To veer off topic a bit: Can people PLEASE stop throwing the word narcissist around if you don’t know the actual clinical definition of the word? Having a huge ego does not mean a person has narcissistic personality disorder.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Tattooing chosen one on yourself is the clinical definition of narcissist

At age 18? Yea, truly unforgiveable

[Marrrcuss]

lebron made so many mistakes, sometimes quit, and sometimes threw his teammates under the bus but it is impossible to ignore his greatness.

I am an oblivious stan who doesnt follow him as much as his haters. Can you let me know when he quit and when he threw teammates under the bus? I literally stop following him after his teams final whistle of the season.

[Ursusamericanus]

My view of LeBron is a bit nuanced. I was an enormous fan of his for a long time, pretty much since my early-mid teens when he was a rookie (I am now 33). It provided solace to root for him because my team, the Knicks, were terrible most of the time. I sort of cooled off rooting for him after his 4th ring.

I rank him as the GOAT and hugely admire his longevity, work ethic, and standard of excellence, though have no issue with folks picking MJ or Kareem. I also recognize his narcissistic tendencies and the fact that he seems more emotion-driven than logic-driven, which is not my thing. I've wanted him to retire with 5 rings for years, but doubt it happens at this point. A lot of the slander is unfair, a fair bit is justified. It is what it is. He's a legend and he has achieved amazing things before age 40.

[xchange55]

MJ has the benefit of being the face of the most popular basketball shoes ever and the other MJ-era media stuff like the Spacejam movie. So while yes, MJ is also a terrible person (worse than LeBron by a lot) and also a terrible NBA owner, he has the benefit of a few very popular things to balance him out.

The benefit of?

He's the REASON why the shoes are still treasured today - I just bought a pair of Air Jordan 4 Industrial Blue on Saturday! Nobody is buying Lebron shoes - you can get them at the outlets all the time

He's the REASON why the movie did so well globally (compare that to Lebron version which is a flop).

[xchange55]

This is how Lebron plays the game:

Watch on YouTube

If you ever played sports or coached, you would know this is complete garbage. And then he wants to blame everyone else.