In news that will come as a surprise to no one, petulant basketball blowhard LeBron James is the most hated player in the NBA by a significant margin, according to a social media use survey by Sports Insider.
Using trends software with direct access to geo-tagged Twitter data, the study tracked negative mentions of NBA players on Twitter. The study tracked negative tweets (positive ones were not factored into the data) such as “I hate LeBron” or “LeBron sucks” and similar negative comments for many players.
The data was then grouped by region and measured against which players received the most negative tweets across a map of states. James won (or lost, depending on one’s viewpoint), ending up with 24 states lined up against him. Kyrie Irving came in a distant second, with 18 states hating him the most.
The top rankings:
No doubt the arrogant LeBron’s reputation as a sore loser and injury-faker factored into the hatred, but his relentless and woke political pronouncements likely contributed to the most venom.