LeBron James made his return to Cleveland on Thursday night to hear deafening boos and a lot of not-so-nice chants. While he was deserving of what he got, the constant criticism he has received since joining the Miami Heat cannot be justified.
Recently, Q Score Company, which frequently conducts polls in order to gauge the popularity of various athletes, released a poll of the most hated athletes in the U.S. The top five, starting with the most hated were Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. What this list displays is the race issues that are still prevalent in sports.
James has constantly been told how great he is since the day he stepped foot in St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School in Akron, Ohio. How can anyone expect him not to be egotistical? His cockiness does not make him a bad person, and it certainly should not make him one of the most disliked athletes in the country.
What James did when made his “decision” was arrogant and it shows that he thinks he is bigger than the NBA. He should have simply left Cleveland and not announced on a televised ESPN special that he was going to Miami. That point has been beaten into the ground. But hasn’t Brett Favre acted like he is bigger than the NFL the last three years? He retires. He comes back. He does the same thing every offseason. He attracts constant media attention and forces coaches and players to take a plane to Mississippi in order to convince him to play, when we all know that he’s coming back anyway. Yet, the narrative is how gutsy he is. How everybody loves him because he’s a “gunslinger”. Seldom do you see hated and the name Brett Favre in the same sentence when talking to the average sports fan.
The situation is different because Favre actually wanted to return to the Green Bay Packers shortly after the first of many one-month retirements and was denied the opportunity, while LeBron left Cleveland in an embarrassing fashion. I have no problem with Cavs fans hating LeBron. In fact, they should. But what reason does the average fan have to hate LeBron James?
Absent from the Q Score list is Ben Roethlisberger, who has been accused of sexual assault twice. Roethlisberger was so arrogant that he was accused of sexual assault once and then put himself in a position to be accused again. Yet it’s no longer talked about. After serving his four-game suspension earlier this season, the story has essentially vanished and sports personalities are back to talking about what a big game performer he is. If Donovan McNabb or Vince Young were accused of the same thing, would it be an afterthought so quickly? I think not.
Say what you will about LeBron James. He has never been arrested. He has never been suspended. He has never even been ejected from a game. From all indications he has been a good teammate throughout his career and has been known to look for open teammates before taking his own shot. He is charismatic and has done well as the face of the NBA. Yet he’s more hated than the Steelers’ quarterback.
It’s perfectly fine not to like LeBron James. We all have players we don’t like for one reason or another. But to dislike him as a person over other athletes who have done far worse strikes me as a little strange and in some cases, subtly racist.
blasky@theeagleonline.com
