Why Everyone Hates LeBron

[Source: Mike Ehrmann/Getty-Images]

Let’s get this out of the way right now: I am no fan of LeBron James. I’m not a hater, but I’m definitely not a supporter, either. If you watch NBA basketball, you know it’s fun to root against the Heat because they’re stacked and do stuff like this, and if I fall on any side with the guy, it’s that I’ll usually root against him in favor of an underdog, like I did with the Mavericks in the Finals last year (WE ARE ALL NOWITZNESSES). But I certainly don’t hate the guy.

Recently, there’s been a bit more LBJ hate going around than usual, probably in light of his passing up a chance to take the last shot twice in one week, despite his having an MVP-caliber season. A bunch of people have been publishing “Why does everybody hate LeBron?” articles, in which their authors appear to be baffled as to why so much hate for such a young, talented player. And people who ask questions like this are baffling to me, because in my estimation, this is an easy one.

People hate LeBron because he’s not Michael Jordan.


For the better part of two decades, there was no greater athlete in the Milky Way galaxy than Michael Jeffrey Jordan. He was legendary in every sense of the word, winning six NBA titles while hitting big shot after big shot. With Jordan, there was never any public spectacle without championship hardware. He just won, all the time. I once heard Bill Simmons say that the thing that made Jordan great was that, at the end of a close game, everyone in the stadium knew he was going to be the one taking the big shot, including the opposing team...and then he would go out and make it anyway. He wasn’t just great, he was storybook great. That, friends, is true greatness.

Current tally: Jordan 6, LeBron 0

LeBron James, however, is a different guy altogether. He grew up in the AAU era, and he’s been touted as the “next great one” for well over 10 years now...and he’s just 27. Jordan was never this hyped. And LeBron has done nothing but fuel the hype. The Decision. This debacle. The ironic hipster glasses. Authoring controversial tweets. This commercial. Carrying a tiny purse. It’s a nonstop, 24/7 hype machine around the guy. It’s no wonder we see him as a letdown. Jordan defied all expectations, took the basketball world by storm and set the bar so high we may never see anyone come close to that standard again. LeBron was never going to redefine the game the way Jordan did. And still we rip him every time he falls short of The Jordan Standard. Most of the time we don’t even know we’re doing it, but now that we’ve seen perfection, and now that Jordan is done, we will measure every great player by The Jordan Standard. That’s not fair to LeBron, but it comes with the territory.

Everybody likes to talk about how James isn’t a closer, how he shouldn’t defer to teammates so much and start owning the end of games. And they’re right. He’s ridiculously talented, and he ought to be the one who determines the outcome of games. When he doesn’t, it makes him looks weak and scared. Nobody wants a champion like that. We want a champion who takes no prisoners. Someone who dominates opponents for 48 minutes. Someone who just wins, all the time. The only guy who’s even sniffed that kind of greatness recently is Kobe, but that only because he reminds us of (you guessed it) Jordan.

We’ve always expected LBJ to be MJ. And for better or for worse, he’s not. We have assured him a spot on the list of Most Hated Athletes in Basketball because we see the talent, we see the potential...then we see him pass up chances to become great, and in our disappointment we get mad. In the end, all the hate is really just indicative of how much we all want LeBron to be great. And not just regular great: Jordan great.

If ever there was a time for an Adele song, this is it.

We could have had it alllllllll...... //