I hated LeBron James.
All my Facebook memories in 2010 show proof of me straight-up trashing the guy. However, I spoke of this in a previous article and it proves even more true after the Cleveland Browns quarterback being officially named.
LeBron had validity.
What do I mean by that?
Well, the teams he carried throughout his first seven years of his career in Cleveland did not have much help. The ownership did nothing to allow him to become a true competitor and honestly, him carrying the 2007 Cavs to The Finals against the San Antonio Spurs should get the man an award of some sort with that terrible help.
Even so, at the time, obviously no one knew he’d come back and 2016 would happen with him coming through on a promise he made for Cleveland.
I never thought, in regards to sports and specifically in The Land, the pure hatred of a player or even a person just involved somehow would be more profound. Now it’s even disgust of the Browns themselves, because of this Deshaun Watson decision. What an absolutely stupid choice with no validity being made and so many reasons why this shouldn’t happen.
However, with LeBron, everyone hated him so much cause they certainly still wanted him leading the team. With Watson, this proved it’s exactly the opposite and the fans hate him so much because of his alleged past history, the waste of extremely high contract money, his straight-up horrific play on the field, his injuries and those comments he made against the fans of his team that should never have been made.
So, this is not like we’ve seen many times in sports. Where a player is not the most righteous man with his behavior, but despite that, the fans still love him because he is actually good at what he does on the field/court. Watson not only is a waste of so much money, but also failed to stay healthy and, worst of all, is straight-up not good when he does play.
LeBron was the exact opposite. Recently, I’ve spoken of how much I admire how LeBron carries himself as a person. Certainly, I didn’t love his recent team-choosing golf outing rage bait this basketball offseason. However, at least random women aren’t accusing him of terrible crimes.
Back in 2010, sure, social media existed. I posted on Facebook as a teenager and voiced my opinions. Now, with things such as Twitter X and such, it’s incredible to see just how much is out there, honestly. Looking around, I have never seen such blatant hatred for a man with valid justification as to why. LeBron was actually smart to go to Miami and it was just hard for us fans to admit that was the truth and he did prove it over the years.
But this is the worst part of it all. It wasn’t Watson’s choice, but the coaching staff and ownership that picked him, completely ignoring the fans’ views on the now-starter.
I honestly would not blame anyone for boycotting the Browns. I even saw people requesting suggestions on a different team to root for… Now, I will continue to root for the Browns and this isn’t trying to put myself on a high horse. Even when LeBron left, I still rooted for a Cavs team that was absolutely terrible without him.
But never in my life would I actually accept a person’s true idea of switching teams or just not caring. With this move by the Browns and its lack of validity, I am not surprised that a portion of a fan base of people likely loyal since they were born is so disgusted by this decision that they are willing to change their entire set of values when it comes to NFL Football.
As I said before, this is a 99-1 issue. Where very, very few fans have any means of defense for why it happened.
I am still in shock that this is how the lead-up to the season occurred. Still, I understand why I hated LeBron, but at least he had validity for his choice. Currently in Cleveland, it ceases to exist.