Comparing a great man like Hank Aaron with all he had to endure to LeBron James is almost sacrilegious.

Personal results. La isn't what they should be but is that his fault? Dudes pushing 40.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

The "hate" (if you want to call it that) has more to do with "THE DECISION" than anything else. Even not being Jordan. That was a cowardly way to go about trying to go about winning a championship. Particularly when you want everyone to believe you are "GREATEST PLAYER EVER".

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Yep.

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Correct. He was almost universally beloved before that.

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Getting booed at the Super Bowl while putting a pretend king mask on your head is pretty high up there too now.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

If Wade and Bosh had left their places to go to Cleveland, that situation wouldn't look as poorly on Lebron.

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i found it kinda funny during S&P love fest after he broke the scoring record, they were somehow claiming that THE DECISION was a revolutionary point in free agency, like he changed everything. And bc he donated to the Boys Club or something that he shouldn't have gotten blowback for it.

LOVED his swing.

It was.

Just as Bird v. Magic in the finals may have saved the league, you can point to the decision as its slow decline. That's revolutionary

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Two of the subplots I enjoy most about the Decision:

1) the charity thing is always billed as Lebron donating money to the Boys & Girls Club. It’s got some truthiness to it, but it’s really more that ESPN made a donation on his behalf (like when your kid has friends whose parents won’t let you buy them birthday presents, so you end up sponsoring a dolphin or something for the kid). His was more an opportunity cost/donation; it’s not like the guy went into his own pocket.

2) showing up to announce his choice in CT, making Knicks fans think he had picked them. NY spent years clearing the decks for his FA and he shows up next door to tell them he’s getting married to somebody else.

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He hadn't won a title yet. If he won in Cleveland two or three times and then put together a super team, he would catch shit for it but not as much as he has. Going 'The Decision' route to win your first title is definitely a bbitch move.

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After the decision, Bosh, Wade and Lebron did that douchey live audience interview where it looked like he was just rubbing it in to Cleveland. He was so proud of that production and it was a monumental fuck up that he still pays for today. He only became apologetic when he received blowback.

Those were the days were Maverick Carter's name (and probably junk) were on Bernstein's lips every day, exclaiming his genius.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

They also had what was basically a championship celebration for simply joining up together.

Yet they also don't want us to believe that LeBron took the easy route to his first two titles because he lost the other two.

I still say the LeBron Cleveland title is the most impressive title I've ever seen even though Kyrie hit the clinching shot. We'll call it even because LeBron's title with the Lakers shouldn't even count considering he had to beg the other players in the league to not go home and cancel the season.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Reminds me of the stupid promo that Fox ran ad nauseum: "Win $1,000,000 of Terry's money!" What the fuck did that mean, exactly? I'm pretty sure Terry wasn't in danger of losing any money (though Fox might want to consider docking him after his embarrassing interview with Andy Reid). Did they think the fans' interest was ramped up because not only could they win $1m, but they would actually be taking it from the dumb hillbilly?!?

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yes

If Kyrie "won" the title for LeBron because of the shot, then Paxson "won" the title for Jordan in 1993, and Kerr "won" the title for Jordan in 1997. It's a silly argument.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

LeBron gets hate for taking positions that people don't like. That's cost him reputationally. He didn't pussy out like Jordan did with his Republican and Democrat friendly apparel.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

That approach has probably done more to improve his popularity after he seppuku’d his reputation with the Decision.

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See. You can't even compliment LeBron with one small fact without a response like this.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I'm just repeating the structure of your argument and replacing the actors. It's your argument.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

The decision would have flamed out eventually. Because he doesn't shut up and dribble he's got the right wing against him. That's fine he said stuff, endorsed Clinton, so he should expect blowback. But coming out with his politics has done more to hurt his brand than the decision. Jordan never came out like James did because he didn't want to handle the heat. James isn't a pussy like that. For the record, kudos to Tebow and other athletes who also take unpopular stances. Unlike Jordan they're not pussies and bitches.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

How has his brand suffered from Republican blowback?

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He's considered a bitch by the right-leaning public. I mean you can safely argue that there's a correlation between republican affiliation and lebron hate. Having 40ish percent of the voting public hate your guts is not sound brand strategy. Again, the unofficial republican party TV station told lebron to shut the fuck up. Can the evidence be any stronger? Note that i am not saying this is a bad thing or that Lebron deserves sympathy for this. I'm saying he's a big boy for knowing the consequences of taking public positions on things. He doesn't wear diapers like that bitch Jordan.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Not really. Kyrie was his Pippen. Kerr was Jordans Kerr.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

He’s overly celebrated by the other 60% though, simply because he has the most mundane left wing take on whatever’s in the news that day.

He made that one claim that he’s being hunted every day, but unless that’s true, I’d argue the only consequences to his political statements are positive. He’s praised as an activist and all he has to do is bang out a few 3rd grade level tweets.

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His supporters are irrelevant though because I'm not arguing he doesn't have support, or that the majority of the country hates him. I'm simply saying if you look at potential consumers of your brand as a pie chart, jordan wants the whole pie. How do you get the whole pie? By trying to cultivate a public image that appeals to all the individual slices. Afterall, republican slices buy shoes too. By taking positions on current events, LeBron alienated a significant amount of slices. BTW, Schilling, Tebow, etc., did the same, they alienated significant slices. All are more courageous than jordan.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

But there’s no real consequence to alienating those who oppose James. He probably has made more money from it than had he just rode things out post-Decision and remained an unlovable illiterate.

Jordan faces the consequences from all those lefties who’ve spent their whole lives consuming media that tells them Republicans are evil. Not insulting conservatives is somehow seen as a bad thing. But as in basketball, Jordan’s products are so much better than James’ that people buy them anyway. He succeeds because he’s just that much better.

Jordan’s is the courageous position - James’ is quintessential bravery-on-the-cheap.

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Guys that Love basketball don't give a shit about his politics. They hate how his kingmaking ways has screwed up the NBA.

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