10 Sports Stars We Hate...Unless They're on Our Team
Sports has a funny way of producing feelings of hate and loyalty within fans.
LeBron James, of course, stands as one of the shining recent examples. Those faithful to the Miami Heat probably hated him for years before the revelation he would consider the team in free agency. He did, his jerseys burned in Cleveland and later were repurchased tenfold upon his return and title run.
James doesn’t necessarily fit in on a list of players fans hate unless they suit up for their favorite team. He’s more lovable than ever before, like a grandpa out there on the hardwood and the guy who returned to his hometown a hero, unlike a certain someone who just left his loyal fanbase to much fanfare.
Indeed this certain someone joins plenty of talented, loudmouthed, arguably dirty players fans hate—until these players decide to go somewhere else. Given the recent major allegiance switches and outbursts from hateable players, let’s take a look at current stars continuing to toy with these emotions of loyalty and hate.
Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants
1 of 10
New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t do himself any favors during his 2015 rivalry with then-Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, a feud that got physical to the point of the LSU product looking like a hothead and dirty player.
This has actually carried over to Beckham’s 2016 campaign because his outbursts haven’t stopped. He’s been seen several times literally throwing temper tantrums on the sidelines, which in part is what happens when a star athlete who has done what he wants on the field throughout his life finally meets his match in the form of other elite players.
Immature or not, it’s hard for anyone to scoff at minimums of 1,300 yards and 12 scores, the totals for Beckham over his first two seasons in the NFL. After calming down a tad this year, Beckham has poked fun at himself for temper tantrums and had a game with 222 receiving yards and a pair of scores.
It’s like quarterback Eli Manning essentially said—you can live with the outbursts if Beckham is producing. More often than not, he is, so no fan on the planet can pretend they wouldn’t welcome him with open arms.
Draymond Green, F, Golden State Warriors
2 of 10
The Golden State Warriors had a hateable element to themselves well before a certain someone decided to join their ranks in large part thanks to Draymond Green.
Green, the arm and feet flailing forward, had a knack for making himself disliked for his antics on the court, though recent revelations about his apparent locker-room interactions haven’t helped either.
Still, we’re talking about a guy who relatively came out of nowhere to help form one of the best regular-season teams of all time while averaging 14.0 points and 9.5 rebounds a game, and flustering opponents with his defense.
The spotlight on Green won’t go away anytime soon, especially not while he bothers the likes of James while pursuing a championship with the Warriors. But if and when he takes to free agency, most fans around the league will probably campaign for his disruptive presence to come to town.
Dez Bryant, WR, Dallas Cowboys
3 of 10
When one thinks of current diva wideouts in the NFL, Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys consistently comes to mind first.
Bryant has a lot going for him. Well, against him. One, he’s a member of the Cowboys. Two, he’s so passionate and demonstrative on the sidelines and in interviews that it’s easy to take what he says and does the wrong way.
When healthy, Bryant has few in the league who can shutter him. A stretch of three seasons with 1,200 yards or more and 12, 13 and 16 touchdowns, respectively, says that well enough.
So while fans might take what Bryant says and does the wrong way, he's so skilled there isn't a fan on the planet who could get mad over their favorite team pursuing him. Bryant is a game changer who makes quarterbacks better, and like Beckham, you have to take the good with the bad.
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Vontaze Burfict, LB, Cincinnati Bengals
4 of 10
This isn't much of a surprise, but Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict has come under fire as of late for what seems like dirty play.
Indeed, the NFL agreed and fined Burfict for his play in a game this season, though it seems clear that further infractions will result in the star linebacker being suspended again.
Not that fines are anything new for Burfict. As Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer noted, Burfict has been fined a stunning $805,000 over the course of 53 games.
There is no question Burfict is a dirty player. Sometimes he isn't trying to be overly dirty, but the reputation he has built for himself has officials, fans, other players and the league on him anyway.
But let's not pretend for even a second Burfict is the first dirty player fans have hated. He's another James Harrison or Rodney Harrison, a guy all fans can't stand—unless he's on their team.
P.K. Subban, D, Nashville Predators
5 of 10
It's not hard to see why many hockey fans can't stand P.K. Subban.
This is a guy who is ridiculously talented. He's flashy with what he does, risky too. He's also been fined in the past for embellishment, or what many would simply call diving. Or in other sports, flopping.
He's a flopper in a league full of them, so it really isn't that big of a deal. But like James and others in the NBA, for example, it's just one more reason for haters to throw angst Subban's way.
To be fair, those who criticize Subban for slashing and slewfooting have a point when it comes to unsportsmanlike play at times. But it's not far off from what a Burfict or other questionable players do in other sports.
And unlike Burfict, everyone holds their breath when Subban gets involved with a play. He's electric, great and innovative. He's a game changer, and that's why fans of the Nashville Predators haven't had any problems adding him to the family this year.
Bryce Harper, F, Washington Nationals
6 of 10
Get with him or get lost.
The traditionalist approach to baseball, a sport beholden of its past more than looking ahead to the future, tends to hate a guy like Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper.
Harper has cussed at umps. He's flipped his bat, even his helmet. He's been ejected. He's slammed through the bases and celebrated and disrespected so and so and ignored so-and-so's unwritten laws.
Fox Sports' Chris Chase argues quite well the hate falls into the "unwarranted" category:
"It's all a farce. Harper is one of the good guys. He doesn't get arrested. He's not getting in trouble at clubs. He's not testing positive for PEDs. His baseball faults are his fiery competitiveness, which sometimes leads to celebrating home runs and cursing at umpires, two things players have done, and will continue to do, for years. Bryce Harper cares. For that, he's pilloried.
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Harper is a rare talent and one of the faces of baseball. Funnily enough, like a lot of players on a list like this, Harper is fiery and brash, uber-competitive and unafraid to let folks know how good he is.
It makes most fans jealous, in large part simply because their favorite team wasn't lucky enough to get him.
Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
7 of 10
This is easy enough, right?
America adores its underdogs, but not Tom Brady. There was a time it was fun to cheer for Brady, the former sixth-round pick who only got a shot in the NFL because the guy in front of him got hurt.
Then a funny thing happened. Brady started winning. Maybe too much, too. Even worse, he was winning with the New England Patriots. If that wasn't bad enough, he was winning with a guy by the name of Bill Belichick.
Like others here, Brady is a good-looking guy with an odd fashion sense. He dates supermodels, stays out of trouble and throws the occasional taunt on the field. Even more recently, he's incredibly open about his friendship with Donald Trump. There's the whole cheating thing, too.
Nitpicking. That's really what it comes down to. Fans want the underdog until the underdog starts a dynasty. They want him or her staying out of trouble unless he's got a sense of fashion or friends they don't agree with.
Brady wins games and is one of the best to ever do it. The rest is white noise. If Brady ever pulled a Peyton Manning and went somewhere else, he'd be just as well received.
Cristiano Ronaldo, F, Real Madrid
8 of 10
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best in the world, receives plenty of hate for it and thrives off of it.
World-class talent, good looks, marketability and an unashamed swagger about his skill on and off the pitch create an epic concoction of hatred.
It's enough, really, to overshadow all the good in the world Ronaldo accomplishes, as BBC's Ciaran Varley helped explain:
"Conversely, Ronaldo was last year named most charitable athlete in the world by Athletes Gone Good. His philanthropic gestures include a £53,000 donation to pay for a 10-month-old baby’s operation, paying for a nine-year-old cancer patient’s medical expenses and giving £105,000 to the medical research centre where his mother was treated for cancer. Then there was that story about how he’d shaved lines in his head to show solidarity for a young lad who had had brain surgery.
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Fans who have nothing to do with the squads Ronaldo suits up for will ignore most of this because he's incredible and flaunts it often. He taunts opponents, flops and pleads with referees all the time.
Or in other words, the exact things that can aggravate all fanbases at once—except the one he happens to land with and carry.
Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers
9 of 10
The Superman pose. The Dab. Walking out of a Super Bowl press conference. Towel on head. The painted-on smile no matter the situation (even during a car wreck!) (bonus—during a fist fight!) to the point it's almost demonic.
Cam Newton, folks.
Newton has done more for the game of football than most will ever care to admit. Those dual-threat capabilities giving defenders nightmares? What folks wanted Tim Tebow to be, times about a million.
Newton is a Heisman Trophy winner, an NFL MVP and redefining arguably the most important position in sports. The results speak for themselves, and the only reason fans outside of Carolina can't stand him is because he's smiling and acting how he wants to act through it all.
Again, a perfectly fine role model who avoids trouble with the law, yet gets flack. Don't worry for Cam's sake, though—he'll just smile on through it.
Kevin Durant, F, Golden State Warriors
10 of 10
All hail the new king of hate.
Kevin Durant, per the weird rules of sports because an organization simply drafted a player, pulled off a so-called betrayal by leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Durant can go wherever he feels like, though fans are more than fair to criticize the landing spot. After all, he joined the Warriors, a team coming off the best regular season performance of all time—and the team that beat Durant's Thunder in the playoffs.
That's where the Durant hate comes from more than anything. It was enough to make LeBron's first decision look like an appetizer.
Respect to Durant, though. He knew full and well the backlash he would receive for the move and followed what his heart told him. The man did it in respectful fashion, too, or at least as respectfully as one can pull off such a move.
Not that any of the above will change the reaction to Durant this season and well beyond. Durant looks ready to follow a LeBron-esque route, albeit amplified. Hate away, but take this as gracefully as Durant has the backlash—you'd be one of the first in line if he hit free agency again.
Follow Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) on Twitter.
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