LeBron James is one of the most famous athletes in the world, (if not the most famous), has enough sponsors to potentially become a billionaire, has won gold medals for the United States in the Olympics, and continues to put up phenomenal stats each year, and yet many sports fans simply hate LeBron. Not too surprisingly, the reasons most people dislike "The King" rarely has anything to do with his on-court stats.
The main reason most people dislike LeBron is because he seems to be too cocky. Whether it is nicknaming himself "The King" or stating “I feel confident because I’m the best player in the world. It’s that simple.” While many people may agree that he is in fact the best active basketball player in the world, people typically like to arrive at that conclusion on their own, and some like to look up to more humble superstars.
Another reason many people love to hate LeBron is due to the fact that he wears the number 23. While is was not against the rules, LeBron entered into his career wearing the number 23, which many basketball players would not wear in order to honor the great Michael Jordan. When LeBron left the Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat, he began to change is mind on wearing 23.
“I think no guy in the NBA should ever wear 23. He can’t get the NBA logo, much respect to Jerry West. So I think his number shouldn’t be worn by any player in the NBA. So I’m thinking about changing my number next year. Just to show a tribute to what he did for this game – to pioneer everybody, he laid the stepping-stones for everybody to come up through the ranks. I’m going to change my number next year because that’s how much respect I got for a guy like that.”
LeBron then wore six as his number in the years that he played for the Miami Heat. But, upon returning back to Cleveland, his decided to go back to wearing 23 after all he had said about honoring Michael Jordan.
Additionally, most people do not believe that LeBron is loyal to any team, unlike most of the great players in NBA history. Players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Jerry West (and even Michael Jordan if you ignore two seasons with the Wizards) all remained with one team their entire careers. Many basketball fans will tell you that they do not like how LeBron had to join the "Miami super team" in order to win two rings in four finals appearances.
Finally, people think that the self-proclaimed greatest player in the world should win more rings than he has if he is truly the greatest. Critics of LeBron point to the fact that he could only win his rings in Miami, and even when he had Wade and Bosh around him, he still fell short twice. LeBron has been to the playoffs ten times and has only won two rings, both coming from his time in Miami. For comparison, Michael Jordan went to the playoffs 13 times and won six championships, and Tim Duncan went 17 times and won five titles.
