LeBron James Is Reportedly the Most Hated Player in the NBA

According to the most recent SportsInsider social media study, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is the most hated NBA player.

The research encompasses geotagged Twitter data from the last month, which tracks negative mentions of the league’s greatest players. The research dictated that phrases such as “I hate LeBron” or “LeBron sucks” are used to inform the data of the study. Over 70,000 hashtags and tweets were combed through and the findings have concluded that LeBron is in fact the most hated player in the NBA in 24 different states. Following LeBron, Kyrie Irving comes in second with 18 states, James Harden and Kevin Durant tied at three and Russell Westbrook and Paul George tied at one.

With someone who has many years under his career, it is not a surprise that King James has amassed both an array of fans and haters. One of LeBron’s biggest critics, Skip Bayless, took to Twitter to express his lack of surprise for the results stating, “A national poll finds that the most hated player in the NBA is … LeBron James. No surprise here. Can’t wait to discuss on tomorrow’s Undisputed. I’m told Shannon is out of his mind over this.”

The findings arrive in tandem with The Athletic‘s recent report that LeBron is planning on changing his jersey number back to No. 6 from No. 23 next season. Previously, Anthony Davis was expected to wear No. 23 but it is noted that AD will be keeping his jersey No. 3.

Most Hated NBA Player in Each State

(Via Sports Insider) pic.twitter.com/A8G5HkJCdG

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) June 8, 2021

A national poll finds that the most hated player in the NBA is … LeBron James. No surprise here. Can’t wait to discuss on tomorrow’s Undisputed. I’m told Shannon is out of his mind over this.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) June 9, 2021

In other NBA news, Spalding is releasing its final batch of NBA basketballs to commemorate the end of their partnership.