Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James is one of the best players in NBA history. He’s a four-time MVP, four-time champion and four-time Finals MVP and the only player to rank top-10 all-time in points and assists.
Barring a major injury, LeBron is projected to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the NBA’s all-time scoring list next season. The King will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer one day and we may never see another player like him again.
However, LeBron is extremely polarizing. People either love or hate him, nothing in between.
While LeBron has been voted as an All-Star starter 18 years in a row and tied Michael Jordan this season for most years leading the NBA in All-Star voting, the superstar swingman was the most hated NBA player during the 2020-21 season, according to a social media study conducted by SportsInsider.com.
The research used geotagged Twitter data, tracking negative mentions of NBA players. The findings showed that LeBron was the NBA’s most hated player in 24 different states in 2020-21.
LeBron’s popularity started to decline in 2010 after he signed with the Miami Heat. LBJ announced on ESPN that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Heat. It was a controversial decision and fans criticized LeBron for using a TV show to announce his move.
When the Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Finals in six games, NBA fans were thrilled to see LeBron fail on the biggest stage. After winning two championships with the Heat in 2012 and 2013, the Akron Hammer returned to the Cavaliers in the summer of 2014. He regained some of his popularity after writing a touching letter called “I’m Coming Home.”
LeBron and the Cavaliers won the 2016 championship over the Golden State Warriors, becoming the first team in NBA history to erase a 3-1 series deficit in the Finals.
In the summer of 2019, LeBron signed with the Lakers. He won his fourth title and fourth Finals MVP Award in 2020, becoming the first player in NBA history to win three Finals MVPs with three different teams.
Despite all the success he’s had, though, the Chosen One still has plenty of haters. “LeBron haters” are all across the country and LeBron knows it, which is why he looks for them during road games.
LeBron Seeks out a ‘LeBron Hater’ Before Games for Motivation
On the latest episode of The Shop: Uninterrupted, LeBron said he sometimes looks for a “LeBron hater” in the stands to get himself pumped up for road games.
“I go out on the floor during warm-ups and I’ll just be looking for a LeBron hater,” LeBron said. “I just need one of them. I’ll be like, ‘Please let me find this one LeBron hater. I need it.’ In the crowd for warm-ups, it’s like 20 minutes before the game starts and I’m just looking like, ‘Oh, I found this mother****er. Oh yeah, I’m ready. I’m gonna be ready to go tonight.'”
LeBron indicated that looking for haters is something he does on occasion when he needs to be energized after getting a poor night’s rest or going through something that prevents him from being hyper-focused.
The toughest atmosphere LeBron has played in was his first game back in Cleveland with the Heat on December 2, 2010. The 18-time All-Star knew there would be plenty of “LeBron haters” in the arena that night. However, he didn’t expect 9-volt batteries to be thrown on the court.
Cavaliers Fans Threw Batteries at LeBron, Heat Players
LeBron told Rachel Nichols of ESPN in 2017 that Cavaliers fans threw batteries on the floor during his return to Cleveland. Heat security guard Rob Brown confirmed the story in 2018.
“What wasn’t made up were the 9-volt batteries being thrown on the court,” Brown told ESPN in 2018. “I remember a member of the NBA’s security team wanted to call the game because there was so much coming at us during the game and we were basically ducking behind the scorer’s table just to not get hit.”
Cavaliers fans booed and yelled at LeBron all night. However, it didn’t faze King James at all. He put up 38 points, five rebounds and eight assists while shooting 15-of-25 from the field in the Heat’s 118-90 win.
“Once I hit the court, I’m in my safe haven,” LeBron said about his first return to Cleveland in 2018, via ESPN. “Once I hit the court in warm-ups, you could hear the boos. It was probably the loudest I’ve ever heard boos in my life. I felt the animosity. I felt the scrutiny. But once the ball was tipped, I’m in my safe haven. There’s nothing that can stop me from trying to be the best I can be.”
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Lakers’ LeBron James Hunts Down Hater in Crowd: ‘I Found This Mother****er’