





2009 Conference Finals: The Missing Handshake









When he was later asked about his behavior, Lebron claimed that he didn't LeBon James' 2008-2009 Cleveland Cavaliers entered the playoffs with an impressive 66-16 regular season record. They had every reason to be optimistic that they could (and should) reach the NBA finals. Unfortunately for the Cavs, they were defeated by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals in 6 games. As the Magic celebrated their victory and shook hands with the Cavaliers, Lebron stormed off the court . Not only did he refuse to shake any of his opponents' hands, but he also refused to talk to the media.When he was later asked about his behavior, Lebron claimed that he didn't regret anything about his display of poor sportsmanship. Part of his explanation was:





"It's hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them. I mean, I'm a winner. That's not being a poor sport or anything like that. Somebody beat you up, you're not going to congratulate them on beating you up. I'm a competitor. That's what I do. It don't make sense to me to go up and shake somebody's hand."



Pictured: A visual interpretation of LeBron's statement.





Now to be honest, this wasn't that big a deal by itself. We've all had our weak moments when we didn't act with the grace or class that we should have; most of us are also lucky enough not to have cameras and sports writers telling the entire world about it.



But when you combine this incident with rumblings about LeBron's poor attitude while on the U.S. Olympic team (that resulted in him almost getting cut from the 2006 U.S. National Team), the public got its first taste King James' ego...although it was nothing compared to what happened that summer.







Summer 2009: The Dunk (And Ego)

You Weren't Supposed To See





The LeBron James Skill Academy was a summer camp for some of the best high school and college players in the country that was held in Akron, Ohio. During a pick up game, Xavier's Jordan Crawford dunked over LeBron. While news of the dunk spread, video of it was confiscated by Nike officials...right after LeBron called over a Nike rep/goon, who minutes later approached the camera man (freelance photographer Ryan Miller) and demanded that he turn over his tapes.



yougotdunkedon.com







Miller was told that he was violating the camp's rules by taping the scrimmage, despite the fact that he had been permitted to film there , had been filming all day without incident, and Nike had no policy against filming at the camp. It was pretty clear that LeBron and Nike didn't want anyone to see King James getting posterized.



at most 48 hours take on mythic proportions. When a leaked cell phone video of the dunk finally did emerge (that was This made a dunk that would have been news for48 hours take on mythic proportions. When a leaked cell phone video of the dunk finally did emerge (that was authenticated by Miller), it really wasn't that big a deal.

















Summer 2010: James Kills an ESPN Story

Ah yes, the old "My life is better than yours, so I don't care," approach. Very classy indeed.





2012: Looking Ahead (Or Back If You're LeBron's Hairline)

Since the turbulent 2010-2011 season, Lebron and his team have been pretty low key compared to their bravado from the year before. Aside from the rapper Drake making a complete idiot out of himself by saying that the Heat are better than any other team that has ever won a championship (and because Larry Bird can't jump as high as LeBron), there hasn't been been anything to stir the same hateful fervor that there once was for the boys from South Beach.



Still, that shouldn't stop us from remembering the reasons that we hated LeBron and the Heat in the first place. Because you have to admit, as much as the anger and malice towards one man or one team can poison your heart...it sure was fun to have a bona fide villain to root against.



mediatakeout.com Drake's eyebrows and personal grooming were just getting too easy.





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In honor of the 2011-2012 NBA season (which almost didn't happen ) and my Atlanta Hawks taking on the Miami Heat to start the new year, we've decided to profile professional basketball's favorite current villain/target, Lebron James As with many of our "Justified Sports Hatred" subjects, the venom that gets directed towards "King" James often gets attributed to to the ever present "haters." And while there is no doubt that LeBron is a top flight talent, his enormous ego and severe deficiencies as a player (and a human being) offer plenty of opportunities for the hate to be justified.