Athletes Who Are Now Hater-Proof
Some athletes are more hated among casual fans than others. It's the nature of the business.
Fans of the New York Knicks hated Michael Jordan in the 1990s. That's understandable. Jordan and other members of the Chicago Bulls prevented the Knicks from making it to the NBA Finals on multiple occasions. For those following the Knicks at the time, Jordan played the role of the NBA's top villain and top heel and maybe in all of sports.
LeBron James may never win six NBA championships as did Jordan, but both men had their fair share of haters over the years. Like Jordan before him, James is now hater-proof following the 2016 NBA Finals during which James produced multiple memorable performances and helped guide the Cleveland Cavaliers to a historic title.
Serena Williams is the greatest women's tennis player in history. The resume belonging to Cristiano Ronaldo no longer contains any massive gaps. Brock Lesnar silenced all critics and doubters with an impressive victory at UFC 200.
Haters will still lash out at all three.
There is no erasing some haters. Sidney Crosby will be booed next National Hockey League season even though Crosby cemented himself as an all-time great this past spring. Certain individuals will still mention Peyton Manning's overall playoff record when discussing legacies. Hot takes about the Cavaliers trading Kevin Love this summer aren't disappearing.
Say whatever you want about the athletes featured in this piece. Their achievements are the only answers those athletes need to any criticisms.
As the great philosopher Taylor Swift taught us, some haters are just going to hate. The Internet and sports talk media provide forums for those haters.
Keep hating on the athletes showcased here all you want. You are the ones on the wrong side of history.
Michael Bisping
1 of 10
Odds Shark listed Michael Bisping as a massive underdog for his UFC Middleweight Championship fight against titleholder Luke Rockhold heading into the night of UFC 199 on June 4. Rockhold already owned a prior win over Bisping.
Bisping accepted the fight less than three weeks before UFC 199 after it was learned Chris Weidman suffered an injury while training to fight Rockhold. Bisping, as Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting explained on May 18, had a history of never earning a championship fight during his nine years in UFC.
Everything seemed to favor Rockhold on paper.
Fights don't occur on paper or in latest lines. They occur inside of cages. Bisping shocked Rockhold and also much of the fighting world on June 4 when he defeated Rockhold via first-round knockout.
Rockhold appeared on the June 20 edition of The MMA Hour to discuss his loss to Bisping. Per Adam Guillen Jr. of MMA Mania, Rockhold explained on that program that the outcome of his encounter with Bisping at UFC 199 was merely a fluke:
"Anyone can get caught in this game if you hit them perfectly. He's a tough guy, not going to lie. He won fair and square, but the odds of that happening again are fairly low. He caught me on the tip of the chin on my way out and followed it up. Congrats to him, he won.
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Rockhold also added some choice language not appropriate for this website.
After UFC 199, Martin Rodgers of USA Today wrote about Bisping's reputation, discussing how Bisping was perceived to be a villain and a heel in the eyes of some fans for years. That changed this past June. According to the Odds Shark information presented earlier, Bisping may be the unlikeliest UFC champion ever.
Bisping is nevertheless a champion regardless of whether you see him as a heel or a babyface.
Gareth Bale
2 of 10
Real Madrid star Gareth Bale turns 27 years old before the start of the 2016-17 European football season. He is still building his legacy. As things stand today, though, there are two decisions that define Bale's club and international careers: choosing to leave Tottenham Hotspur for Real Madrid and deciding to represent Wales instead of England.
Both worked out well for Bale.
No knowledgeable people can, with a straight face or any seriousness in their voice, suggest Bale made a mistake in leaving Tottenham and the Premier League for the Spanish giants. In his first season at Real, Bale scored an impressive and memorable match-winner in the Copa del Rey final versus Barcelona.
Bale also delivered a headed goal that provided Real with the lead in extra time of the 2014 Champions League final. Real added two additional tallies before the final whistle to defeat Atletico Madrid 4-1 and become champions of Europe for the 2013-14 campaign.
The Welshman converted from the spot during Real's penalty-shootout victory over Atletico Madrid in the 2016 Champions League final.
But perhaps Bale's greatest accomplishment occurred during the 2016 European Championship. Bale notched a trio of goals during the tournament's group stage as Wales, a minnow of the competition, completed a dream run to the semifinal round, where eventual winners Portugal eliminated the Dragons.
Bale likely won't lift a major international trophy before he calls time on his playing days. Wales, after all, lacks the talent and the depth possessed by the likes of Germany, France and Portugal. Even Belgium, a nation Wales defeated during the Euro, is deeper than Wales on paper.
Bale is already one of the greatest Welsh footballers in history. His resume should only improve between now and the end of the decade.
Kevin Love
3 of 10Can one play or one moment define a legacy? It can if it involves winning a championship.
We do not know what the future holds for Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love as of July 13. Perhaps there will be some validity to trade rumors that drew speculation from Randy Miller of NJ.com and others around the country this past February. Maybe the Cavaliers will respond to the Golden State Warriors landing Kevin Durant in free agency by completing a blockbluster trade that results in Love joining a different team this summer.
What cannot be taken from Love is that he is a champion.
Love did not merely fall into a title even if the numbers suggest he didn't have the best seven games of his career versus the Warriors during the 2016 NBA Finals. Love, as Steven Ruiz of USA Today explained, made a historic stop while guarding reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry:
"With under a minute to go and Golden State trailing by three in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the Warriors got the most ideal one-on-one matchup they could ask for: Steph Curry, the greatest off-the-bounce shooter the league has ever seen, isolated on Kevin Love, arguably the worst defender on the Cavaliers roster.
Then Love, who had been scrutinized for his defense throughout the season, suddenly transformed into a lockdown perimeter defender, hounding Curry for nearly 10 seconds and forcing the back-to-back MVP into an ill-advised shot.
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In time, Love's defensive stop will be lost to history. Casual fans, years from now, will recall LeBron James racing down the court to deny Andre Iguodala of an easy lay-up with under two minutes to play. They'll remember Kyrie Irving draining a three-pointer over Curry to put the Cavaliers up by three in the last minute of Game 7.
Love is a hero among the Cleveland faithful, and his stopping the NBA's best shooter while on the biggest stage of all makes Love hater-proof.
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Brock Lesnar
4 of 10
Brock Lesnar never needs to fight again following his victory over Mark Hunt at UFC 200. There's nothing left for Lesnar to prove. Following roughly four-and-a-half years away from the sport and publicized struggles with diverticulitis, Lesnar took a break from his World Wrestling Entertainment career to see if he could still hang in the cage just three days before his 39th birthday. Lesnar, per Odds Shark, entered the weekend of UFC 200 as an underdog.
The former UFC heavyweight champion dominated Hunt for the majority of the action, and Lesnar deservedly won via unanimous decision.
Even before Lesnar's dismantling of Hunt, Lesnar's jiu-jitsu coach—Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros—told Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting that Lesnar deserved respect from any remaining haters:
"If you look at his career, Brock always fought tough opponents. His first fight in the UFC was against Frank Mir, and then he fought "Crazy Horse" [Heath Herring]. From all of his opponents, in my opinion, Crazy Horse had the lowest level, but still had an excellent level. [Lesnar] never fought a can, never had a tune-up fight. He fought Overeem six months after cutting 12 inches of his colon. He only fought great opponents, champions, and had what it takes to beat every single one of them.
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Did Lesnar first receive opportunities in the UFC because of the fame he earned during his first stint in the WWE? Probably. That doesn't matter anymore. Lesnar won the UFC heavyweight championship, he defended that title on multiple occasions and also proved himself as a draw among fans of mixed martial arts. Lesnar then returned to the cage and again silenced doubters in the summer of 2016.
Lesnar is a UFC all-time great whether or not haters want to admit it.
Sidney Crosby
5 of 10
In a piece published in August 2013, Dan Rosen of NHL.com wrote about how the Edmonton Oilers recovered following the famous trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in August 1988. Less than two years after that deal, Edmonton won the Stanley Cup for the fifth time in franchise history. Edmonton had never before drank from sport's hallowed cup without having Gretzky in the lineup.
This piece came to mind when recalling how well Sidney Crosby played during the first several months of 2016 en route to carrying the Pittsburgh Penguins to a playoff berth. Unlike the aforementioned Oilers, the Penguins needed their star to be on the ice and at his best to win anything of note this year.
Pittsburgh began the year in turmoil. Head coach Mike Johnston was fired and replaced by Mike Sullivan weeks before Christmas. The Penguins started 2016 in real danger of missing the postseason.
Crosby, as Doug Harrison of CBC Sports explained in March, embarked on multiple impressive points streaks from January through the spring. The Penguins consequently climbed up the standings. Crosby and his teammates remained hot through the the start of the playoffs and all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, where the Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in seven years.
The Pens captain hoisted both the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe trophies, the latter given to the person deemed the best player of the postseason. While teammate Phil Kessel scored more points and tallied more assists than Crosby during the postseason, Crosby played better at both ends of the ice than anybody else on the roster.
Crosby sacrificed his body when the Penguins needed a blocked shot on multiple noteworthy occasions. The Pittsburgh captain notched 13 assists during the playoffs. Some of Crosby's best passes did not lead to goals.
As Tom Awad of Hockey Prospectus pointed out for ESPN.com, any Crosby haters lost ammunition even before Game 6 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final:
"Sidney Crosby is the most accomplished NHL player of the last 11 years, and the statistics bear out his dominance. During that span, he leads all players in points per game by a large margin, with 1.33, and is second in overall points, 938 to 966, to Alex Ovechkin, though the latter has played 132 more games.
He is also the leading playoff scorer during that time, with 137 points in 124 playoff games, eight points ahead of teammate Evgeni Malkin.
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Winning the Conn Smythe and a second Stanley Cup should theoretically eliminate any skepticism about Crosby's ability.
Serena Williams
6 of 10
Serena Williams faces haters unlike any other athlete mentioned in this piece. A video posted to Glamour's YouTube page this past June reminded us all of the sexism Williams has dealt with en route to becoming the greatest women's player of all time and one of the greatest singles stars ever.
Williams won her 22nd Grand Slam title at Wimbledon earlier in July, pulling level with Steffi Graf for the most major championships in the history of the sport. As Marissa Payne of the Washington Post pointed out, Roger Federer, widely perceived as one of the best players to ever grace a tennis court, leads male players with 17 Grand Slams.
Here is an interesting statistic that speaks to Williams' longevity atop the women's game: Williams, per Chris Chase of Fox Sports, holds a Big 4 Grand Slam in that she has won Wimbledon in the same year that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray did the same.
There is no one way to define the greatest athlete of any time period. LeBron James, Tom Brady, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Ortiz, Tiger Woods, Sidney Crosby, Lionel Messi, Calvin Johnson and Kobe Bryant are all worthy of mentions on any list of the best athletes of this century. The same goes for Williams.
The question any remaining haters of Williams have to confront as she pursues a historic 23rd Grand Slam is this: Is Williams the greatest competitor in the history of sports?
Good luck putting somebody ahead of Williams in any discussion on the matter.
Peyton Manning
7 of 10
Tom Brady will retire with more Super Bowl rings than Peyton Manning.
So what? When did that one statistic become the be-all and end-all as it pertains to discussions of greatness? Numbers offered by James Dator of SB Nation suggest the latter is, statistically speaking, the better overall QB. Manning, who retired earlier this year after he and the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50, did one thing Brady has not yet done: retired as a champion.
Manning played poorly for the majority of the 2015 NFL regular season. That does not diminish the fact he hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy this past February. It certainly doesn't erase the records the signal-caller set and broke while lighting up scoreboards with the Indianapolis Colts and later with the Broncos during his career.
ESPN.com listed winning Super Bowl 50 as the top moment of Manning's historic career. Following the game, Judy Battista of NFL.com wrote how that night made Manning's career "finally whole," saying:
"As the gold confetti fell and even his opponents stopped to embrace him Sunday night, that light was surely dimming. The scar has faded, too. Left behind for Manning was the reflected glow of the silver Lombardi Trophy—one for each hand, for each team for which he played, for each part of his sterling career.
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There have, to date, been 50 Super Bowl games. The list of QBs who possess multiple titles is relatively small when you consider the league's history. Manning's name is forever on that list, and that fact serves as the topper for a career worthy of a first-ballot induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Anderson Silva
8 of 10
Why do some MMA fans hate Anderson Silva? It is a subject Jonathan Snowden tackled for Bloody Elbow in July 2010:
"Somehow, Anderson Silva's off the charts athleticism and skill hurts him with fans. He just makes everything look so easy. With rare exceptions, he's been so good, so much better than his opponents, that he doesn't even have to break a sweat. ...
Silva, of course, makes this problem worse by toying with so many of his foes. Dancing around the ring, screaming, taunting, refusing to engage-none of this makes him look particularly vulnerable. It just solidifies in fans' minds that Silva is on another level.
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At UFC 112 in April 2010, Silva taunted and toyed with Demian Maia during a fight. This, per Michael David Smith of MMAFighting.com, led to UFC boss Dana White criticizing Silva after the encounter, saying: "I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed in the 10 years of being in this business."
Nobody can take away the titles Silva has won and what he has accomplished during his legendary career. Silva's most impressive performance, the one that should silence haters for good, may have taken place at UFC 200 earlier in July.
Daniel Cormier was set to defend the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Jon Jones at that event. That fight was scrapped when it was revealed during fightweek that Jones had failed a drug test. Silva, a former middleweight champion who underwent gallbladder surgery in May and turned 41 years old this past April, answered the call and accepted the non-title fight against Cormier on short notice.
Despite having no real fight camp, Silva hung with Cormier for three rounds. Cormier routinely took Silva down to the mat, but the champion never came close to finishing off the overmatched and underprepared UFC icon.
It's the babyface moment Silva never before had as a UFC competitor.
Silva is no longer among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Truth be told, Silva is physically a a shell of his former self. At UFC 200, however, Silva left no doubt he still possesses the heart of a champion, meaning his legacy is now hater-proof.
Cristiano Ronaldo
9 of 10
Cristiano Ronaldo is maybe the most polarizing footballer in history.
Some may see Ronaldo as the greatest player of his generation. Others, as Richard Innes of the Mirror pointed out earlier in July, view Ronaldo as a "preening diva" and not as talented an overall performer on the pitch as rival Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo's career experienced quite the roller coaster ride over the past two months. He featured for Real Madrid in the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid, a match Real won on penalties. As Miguel Delaney explained for ESPN FC, though, Ronaldo was far from his best on that night. Ronaldo's converted kick from the spot that ended the contest served as his lone highlight from Real's winning effort.
Ronaldo, per ESPN FC, became Portugal's most-capped player during the 2016 European Championship on the same night he missed from the penalty spot versus Austria. That kick vanished from memories when Ronaldo opened the scoring in Portugal's 2-0 victory over Wales in the semifinals of the Euros.
Ronaldo's performance in the Euro 2016 final will long be remembered, largely because he barely played. A knee injury sidelined Ronaldo 25 minutes into the game versus France, but the Portugal captain remained on the touchline, offering his leadership skills as something of an assistant coach.
Portugal defeated France 1-0 in extra time to win the country's first major tournament.
Per Tom Adams of Eurosport, Ronaldo provided more than just a calming effect for his teammates after leaving the pitch:
"Right-back Cedric Soares revealed a key address from the captain. "At half-time, Cristiano had fantastic words for us," he said. "He gave us a lot of confidence and said 'listen people, I'm sure we will win, so stay together and fight for it.' ... He was fantastic. His attitude was unbelievable. Always he helped a lot our team-mates, he always had a lot of motivational words and all the team of course reacted to them, so it was very good."
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There is nothing left for Ronaldo to achieve and no more fuel for his haters.
Take Ronaldo's personal achievements, such as his three Ballon d'Ors, out of the equation for a moment. Ronaldo has won the Premier League title, the FA Cup, the Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, the Primera Division, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Super Cup and the European Championship. Beyond the World Cup, all that's seemingly missing is a Major League Soccer crown.
American soccer supporters can dream.
LeBron James
10 of 10
Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is hater-proof forevermore. There's no ammunition left for James' critics. Make a list of any and all hot takes you could provide on James' career and legacy. James answered all of them.
James can't win the big one? He won a pair of NBA Championships while with the Miami Heat.
James ditched Cleveland to pursue rings and life in South Beach, humiliating northeast Ohio with The Decision? James returned to the Cavaliers in the summer of 2014, and he did so through an emotional essay, via Lee Jenkins of SI.com.
James can't carry a roster on his back all the way to a title? James scored 41 points in back-to-back elimination games against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. James then delivered a triple-double in Game 7 and blocked Andre Iguodala late in the contest with a move that will live on in highlight reels for years to come.
For his last act of the Finals, James converted from the free-throw line with under 11 seconds left on the clock to guarantee the Cavaliers a first championship in franchise history and the city of Cleveland's first professional sports title since 1964.
There's one comment haters of James could hold onto: James will probably never match Michael Jordan in total championships.
Clay Travis of Outkick the Coverage addressed those specific haters following Game 7 of the NBA Finals:
"They've missed enjoying the career of one of the greatest athletes of our lives because they're worried that if they like LeBron it might upset their memories of how good Michael Jordan was.
LeBron is so good that he could play four positions if we put together the greatest starting squad in NBA history. Think about how crazy this is, LeBron could start at the 1 the 3, the 4 and the 5 on any collection of the best five players in NBA history. He's the most versatile and talented player in the history of the game. Jordan may have more accomplishments, but LeBron can do more things on the basketball court. Shouldn't that actually be the standard for the greatest of all time? Can you do more at your chosen craft than anyone else has ever been able to do?
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Is James a greater overall player than Jordan? That's a matter of opinion. There'll be time for such discussions years down the road. For now, enjoy watching James while you can.
You may never see another player like him in your lifetime.
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