12 Hated Sports Stars That Fans Would Love to Have on Their Team
Loyalty in sports is a fickle, interesting topic because fans love to hate certain superstars, but sure wouldn't mind if the stars wound up playing for their favorite team.
A sudden change of heart by fans isn't a new thing. Think, Roger Clemens ignoring years and years with the Boston Red Sox to join the New York Yankees. Brett Favre in purple, too. More recently, think LeBron James going back to the Cleveland Cavaliers or Kevin Durant packing his bags for the Golden State Warriors.
The descriptor applies far and wide. There's plenty of classic examples. Hines Ward. Ray Lewis. Terrell Owens. Ron Artest. Kobe Bryant. It goes on and on. Everyone loved to hate those guys, but would have loved if they suited up for their favorite team.
With Durant's recent escapades and Tom Brady in the headlines again, let's take a moment to break down current examples.
LeBron James
1 of 12James makes it too easy to hate him.
He could have just been a guy like Bryant, who was one of the all-time greats but stuck it out with his team. But, no, James had to go and do the whole the "Decision" fiasco, form a superteam, win rings and then go back to Cleveland.
Obviously, James constantly comes up in topics as one of the most hated figures in sports, even voted as such. But Miami Heat fans sure changed tunes when James announced his decision, and those folks burning his jersey in Cleveland probably went right out and copped another when James decided it was time to return home.
James is easily the face of this sort of topic. No fan in their right mind would ever get mad over one of the best to ever lace up the sneakers coming to town and carrying a team on his back.
So hate away. Part of every NBA fan hopes some bizarro happening goes down and James decides to leave again.
Tom Brady
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Too easy.
Brady plays for the New England Patriots. He's won a boatload of titles. Not only is he one of the best ever, he's been involved in various shady scandals since entering the league, ranging from taped practices to deflated footballs. To top it all off, he's got a supermodel wife and likes some, well, odd fashion.
America loves its underdogs. Just not when it's Brady. In fact, the guy who was a sixth-round pick and should have never seen a snap as a starter has seemingly had too much success and spoiled the whole underdog thing entirely.
Perhaps worst of all, those who hate Brady probably feel like it just. won't. end. After all, Brady is going on 40 years old and last season alone threw for 4,770 yards and 36 touchdowns.
For the haters, there's no use in pretending you wouldn't embrace it if Brady suited up for your favorite team.
Tony Romo
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Tony Romo is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.
Enough said, right?
Such a position naturally gets hate. American's Team. Jerry Jones. Jerry World. On and on. Romo is a nice guy, no doubt, but he hasn't done himself any favors with the whole aw-shucks underdog routine.
In fact, hating Romo has almost become a sport of sorts because of his perceived status as a choke artist. He's not, but ever since Romo fumbled the snap, he's been in the cross hairs of haters.
But go ahead and look at the starting quarterback situation in the NFL. Romo might quarterback the Cowboys, he might have an unfair reputation and problems staying healthy, but there's about 10 franchises, if that, who would say no if he wanted to hop on board.
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Richard Sherman
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Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman plays with a gigantic chip on his shoulder.
The above makes him easy to hate. The 154th pick in the 2011 draft, Sherman slowly molded himself into an elite NFL corner in Seattle's scheme, and let everyone know about it in the process.
Seriously, NFL.com has a video titled "The Trash-Talking Cornerback" for a reason. Sherman is the guy who infamously took to Twitter and trash-talked Brady after a comeback, even posting an image of the altercation.
Like it or not, with Sherman it's more smarts than arrogance. Sometimes an NFL quarterback's best weapon is his mind, and Sherman uses the sword to get in an opposing wideout's head and win before the snap.
There's no denying Sherman remains one of the league's best. It's like when Darrelle Revis joined Tampa Bay or New England, those fanbases had to throw the hate aside and love the fact one of the best in the game arrived in town.
Kevin Durant
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Too soon?
Look, Durant did this to himself and understood it as it happened. Leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Warriors, the team that beat his Thunder after falling behind 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals, just wasn't a good look.
Even worse, Durant doesn't seem to care how it looks. And he probably shouldn't—if he wants to win titles, teaming with Stephen Curry and others is one of the best ways to go.
But let's be real—Durant is just 27 years old. He's not tied to the Warriors for the rest of his life by any means, and any set of fans in the league would welcome him with open arms.
That includes the Thunder. Whether Durant's decision was worse than LeBron's doesn't matter—Durant going home would have him getting embraced all the same.
Draymond Green
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Draymond Green isn't necessarily a dirty player, but he is the nag of an opponent who drives opposing players and their fans mad.
Green has been all over the place as of late when it comes to dirty accusations. It's true he was the guy suspended for a game during the Finals, got a bit loose with his legs and even slammed Steven Adams of the Thunder.
Just don't call Green dirty. CSN Bay Area asked him about such a status in June.
"I hate that. I hate that," Draymond said. "I don't like people calling me dirty because I know I don't do dirty things. At the end of the day, they're gonna say whatever they want to say, and I'm not gonna lose no sleep over it. But I don't like people to call me dirty because I know I'm not a dirty player."
Would Green be more hated if he embraced his role as a villain?
Impossible to say, but any set of fans would welcome the disruptor unafraid to do what Green does and give the team some attitude.
Sidney Crosby
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Most players on a list like this look for calls from referees, what some might call whining.
Sidney Crosby gets called on it more than most.
It's a snowball effect with Crosby, who also dives like most players in the NHL. Maybe the most damning bit of evidence is the way he carries himself on the ice and sometimes instigates fights, altercations which he coincidentally doesn't seem to be around for when they actually go down.
Such perceived qualities and traits especially don't go well over in a sport like hockey, one defined by tough guys and smart team play.
Despite these apparent sleights, Crosby is ridiculously decorated for a guy yet to hit 30. If his 11-year tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins ever came to a close, there wouldn't be a fan on the planet not clamoring for him to join his or her favorite team.
James Harden
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Everyone hates James Harden. Everyone.
Seriously, a lot of guys on this list could fall into the "polarizing" category. You don't like Brady but recognize his skill, don't like Green's attitude but understand his role. On and on.
Harden? Sheer hatred. Maybe it's the beard. Maybe it's the fact he didn't work out in Oklahoma City and as of late has somehow made Dwight Howard look like the good guy.
And the flops. Don't forget the flops. Millions (which might not be an exaggeration) of flop compilations exist. Harden has transformed into a walking internet meme, a guy who (allegedly) doesn't care on the defensive end of the court.
But be real—Harden is only 26 years old. Good luck finding more than a handful of other players who can post averages even close to his 29.0 points, 7.5 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game last year.
Harden might seem like a joke in some regards, but he's one any fanbase would embrace without a second thought.
Joakim Noah
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Time to give it up, New York Knicks fans.
Joakim Noah is one of the most hateable players in the NBA, an enforcer of a big man who isn't afraid to instigate on the court and talk trash off it, like that time he told us how much he really dislikes the city of Cleveland.
Noah hasn't helped himself on the court over the years. He's a rumbler in the paint, unafraid to ask for calls and is more willing to have an outburst than most.
Easy to hate, easy to embrace. Such is the dilemma for Knicks fans, who had to put up with Noah in the Eastern Conference for years before he signed with the team this summer.
Chicago Bulls fans know all too well how easy it is to love Noah, but have yet to find out what it's like to be on the other side of the equation.
Brad Marchand
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The Rat.
One doesn't get a nickname like that for lack of reason. Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins has been one of the dirtiest players in the sport since entering the league in 2009.
Compilation videos of Marchand's questionable play aren't hard to find, but perhaps more telling is how opposing players treat him.
For instance, Brandon Prust of the Vancouver Canucks smacked Marchand in the groin with his stick, got fined and said the following, according to Gregg Patton of the National: “Best money I ever spent. I think Marchand does that every night.”
Well, OK then.
Marchand is ridiculously easy to hate and it's only gotten worse this year because he's discovered form as an elite scorer, posting career highs in goals (37) and points (61).
As a producer and enforcer, fans sure wouldn't mind if he wore different colors.
Bryce Harper
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Bryce Harper strikes a nerve with so many.
The guy made the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16 years old, so it's not hard to see why. He's been fined and suspended for cussing at an umpire, he's been benched for not running out a grounder, got choked out by teammate Jonathan Papelbon and didn't even sign his MLB contract with the Washington Nationals until the last second.
All this and more before his 24th birthday.
Harper spoke with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci about his reputation in 2015: “I don’t care. If you don’t like me because I’m in the other dugout, so be it. I don’t like you, either. We’ll be friends off the field, but I want to kick your teeth in on the field no matter what.”
It's the exact attitude and behavior of a player the team's fans love, but everyone else could do without. Unless he goes somewhere else, of course.
Grayson Allen
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The latest Mike Krzyzewski star player always gets hate.
This time it's Grayson Allen, the guard with a flair for the dramatic, a bit of flopping, undercutting his opponents instead of blocking their shot and sometimes appearing to trip them on purpose. One time he even refused to shake an opponent's hand.
For his part, Grayson said in an interview with USA Today's Nicole Auerbach he understands the hate.
"With Duke, there's about just as much hate as there is love, and I think that's going to come with it. I think the aggressive and loud way that I played in the championship game is kind of polarizing; you either love it or you hate it. That's going to come with it and I don't really mind it."
Love it or hate it, most programs in the nation wouldn't mind adding a guy who averaged 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists last year on 46.6 percent shooting from the floor and 41.7 percent from deep.
Grayson strikes a nerve with non-Duke supporters, but he'd be a hit anywhere.
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