I could be off - and am sure there is more to it - but unfortunately I think whenever someone reaches that level of fame people are going to respond negatively regardless of what they do. I doubt being 'anti-Lebron' has that much to do with the actual person or basketball player LeBron is vs what people have decided he represents. a mid level university will write a thesis on it.
In fairness to the people who don't like LeBron - with all the media attention he got as a HS kid - I felt I had overdosed on him before he even played a game as a pro. And in fairness to the people that love him - I do not think there is much more he could have done as a basketball player - and I do not think there are that many people that could survive the spotlight like he has without falling off the wagon at some point. I certainly couldn't.
My dislike for LBJ has everything to do with the person he has become. IMO he has been misled by his "advisors" and inner circle. And followed their lead due to money and also due to deep rooted insecurity.
I've said this before, but will say it again. I was a big LBJ fan for many years. I jumped on the bangwagon watching his HS games at St. Mary's-St. Vincent and rooted hard for him each and every time the Cavs made the Finals. I also defended him when constantly compared to Michael Jordan (which was never his fault in the early days).
However despite what others like Slim suggest, he did ring chase by leaving Cleveland for MIA. He joined a team that he knew was going to include 2 other All-Stars and had already won a title just a few years earlier with their leader, Dwyane Wade, leading the way as Finals MVP.
At the time, LBJ wasn't known as a "clutch" performer and often deferred to others when things mattered most. In joining Wade, he had a guy that could bail him out of clutch moments. When Ray Allen joined the team a while later -- he had a 2nd clutch performer to do the same. Remember, it was Allen that made the game tying 3 to keep MIA from losing to the Spurs in 6.
When LBJ went back to Cleveland he knew he was joining a team that recently landed #1 draft pick Kyrie Irving (another player that could bail him out of clutch time situations) and a 3rd All-Star in Kevin Love.
In the end, LBJ wasn't able to accomplish what Giannis just did in staying put and winning a title by having the team built around him. LBJ was good enough to make the Finals in an extremely weak East but was never good enough to overcome as the clear cut #1 option in crunch time.
Circling back to why I now dislike him, it's not only his front running ways and the manner in which he bailed on Cleveland the 1st time (i.e. "the announcement") but also the incessant need to self-proclaim as the GOAT. Which is utterly ridiculous. And shows how insecure and out-of-touch he has become. Even as cocky as conceited as MJ is, he's gone on record many times saying he can't claim to be the GOAT. And he has a more accomplish career on the whole.
Even more than the above, I loathe LBJ's infusion of politics into the sport of basketball (while largely not being all that educated about most of what he proposes to speak out about). Something he really didn't do much the 1st half of his career, if at all.
I can't recall which media member it was that talked about it recently, but he asserted that it was like LBJ finally gave up on the notion that he could ever topple Michael Jordan as the most loved basketball player of all time or outsell him in merchandise and heeded the advice of his inner circle to try to become the next Muhammed Ali instead. Which he is in no way qualified to be beyond being a similarly popular athlete. He doesn't have half of Ali's charm, charisma or understanding of the issues. Most of all, he never took a serious personal stand or career risk as Ali did.
Ali risked going to prison to support his beliefs. If it threatens his bottom line or career, LBJ has no interest in putting things on the line. He's completely fake.
If he really wanted to make a statement and really wanted to support everything he says he believes in -- he could have taken an "Amazing Grace and Chuck" type of stand and refused to play ball anymore until things began to change. That kind of stand could have started an avalanche of support from others doing the same. And with Hollywood and the sports world effectively shutting down, the powers that be accustomed to making $$$ off the entertainment industry just might have panicked and started to help.
But nobody wants to risk their livelihood or careers as Ali once did. Even though many of them already have more than enough to retire on.
That's one of many reasons why I can't buy into their BS. Least of all LBJ.
That people don't really hate AD is more a reflection of what he isn't than an objective judgement of his basketball decisions.
I've never liked AD either. I've never thought he was as good as advertised. I always point to the playoff series where Draymond Green guarded him straight up and AD consistently settled for shots outside the paint -- especially in the waning moments of the games. He's all finesse and weak.
DeMarcus Cousins never let the much smaller Green do that to him.
As a person AD just never seemed all that interesting to me either. He's certainly a very talented player. But just nowhere near the level of a Tim Duncan or even Kevin Garnett or Chris Webber IMO.