LeBron James Hatred: Why Hating James and the Miami Heat Is Fake

By now, the whole LeBron James ditching Cleveland for the Miami Heat thing is old and overplayed, and the criticism has simmered down. 

With the NBA lockout being the primary news that dominates basketball headlines right now, LBJ has been able to keep his name out of the media recently. 

Last year, and I mean all of last year,James was the name at the tip of everybody's tongues. He would have landed the award for the most talked about athlete of the decade if Tiger Woods wouldn't have had an affair with half of the country. 

Still, the reasons for both athletes being highly discussed and scrutinized by the media are for two far different reasons. 

My point is that if you hate James (and aren't a Cavs fan) for simply joining a new team, regardless of the manner that he did it in, then your hatred is completely fake and illogical. And if you hate the Miami Heat for similar reasons, that hatred is also completely fake and illogical.  

Remember, this article refers to people that aren't fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Let me tell you why: 

LeBron Didn't Do Anything Wrong

So the guy went on national television and told millions of viewers that he was switching uniforms. I didn't realize that could turn you from one of the most beloved and respected sports figures to one of the biggest villains in professional sports today.

So, now comes the argument: But he spit in Clevelanders faces and was disrespectful, arrogant and had no reason for making a public segment about it. 

I won't deny that there were probably better ways he could have gone about informing the public about his free agency decision (aka Chris Bosh/Dwyane Wade's way), but is that really grounds for hating him? 

If you are a Cavaliers fan, you have the right to be hurt and angry, and even have the right to hate him, but don't say the reason you burnt his jersey was because he "went on TV and spit in your face."

At the end of the day, you don't know LeBron James and his personal motives, so you really can't say what he did was a personal attack on Cleveland fans. 

And if you are not a Cavaliers fan, why do you even care the manner in which he switched teams? Because if James would have gone on TV and said he was staying with the Cavs, the fans of the other 29 teams in the league would have just shrugged their shoulders and moved on. 

You Only Hate Him Because He Formed a Super Team

I'm sick and tired of people saying they hate LeBron because of his selfish motives and the arrogance he displayed by going on national television to make his decision. 

No, you don't hate LeBron at all because of his personal attitude or behavior. You hate LeBron James because he didn't join the team that you're emotionally invested in. You hate LeBron because his talents were not taken to New York, Chicago, New Jersey, etc. 

The public hatred and constant booing he received at every road game last year was the epitome of fake hatred. 

You hate him because he signed up for a situation that has the potential to make the Miami Heat one of the best dynasties of all time, while making the team that you like irrelevant.

All he did was make a beneficial business decision that he thought would help out his career in the long run. 

You Don't Hate His Selfishness

Let's be real, you don't hate LeBron's selfishness, because everyone in the world is selfish. I'm selfish, and you are selfish. 

You hate the King for simply not joining the team that you like. You hate LeBron James for teaming up with two of the best players in the NBA and for giving the Heat an advantage over the team that you like. 

All of this boils down to one thing: Your team has a worse chance at winning it all now. 

At the end of the day, a season is measured by success, and the only true success is if your team hoists the Larry O'Brien trophy in June. It's not selfish or cheating if he wins one with the Heat. 

You Weren't Actually Rooting for the Dallas Mavericks to Win

All the Tweets, Facebook posts and acts of jubilation that were made when the Dallas Mavericks finished off the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals last June were all completely FAKE. 

Being real, you could care less that the Mavs won the finals and that the Heat lost the finals, unless of course you are a Mavs or Heat fan. 

For the fans of the other 28 teams, you don't give a rat's behind that the Heat lost because in the end you still lost. At the end of any sports season, the only true and REAL way that you are satisfied is if your team won the championship. 

Everything else is a failure.

The only true happiness and ultimate sense of satisfaction a fan can get is when your team wins a title, not when your most hated team loses in the Finals. 

People simply started to hate the Heat, and more and more momentum grew for their hatred. Still, you don't actually hate the team or any of its players. You hate that your team doesn't have the type of trio that the Heat currently has, and you hate that your team doesn't have the type of hype the Heat currently have. 

You Actually Hate Your Franchise's Owner

Let's be real, you don't hate LeBron James or the Miami Heat at all. You hate your favorite team's owner and GM for not being able to pull off what Micky Arison and Pat Riley were able to pull off. 

The fact is that Riley and Arison succeeded in pulling off the biggest and most dynamic free agent haul in the history of sports. You hate that your team's basketball officials weren't able to figure out the way to do something similar to what the Heat did.

Pat Riley planned and prepared for years in advance in order to pull this thing off. He used his business savvy and excellent basketball IQ to be able to sign three of the best free agents on the market in one sitting. 

If your team was able to do that, you'd be in amazement and celebarting it. 

The Miami Heat did nothing wrong. They didn't break any rules, participate in any tampering or violate any league mandadted policies. They simply executed this move with proper preparation.

It's fake for you to hate the Miami Heat just because they practiced good business and found a way to help out the franchise in a monumental way. 

You Don't Know LeBron James and Why He Chose to Sign with the Heat

So, you hate LeBron James because he was "cocky" enough to demand an hour of national television time in order to inform you where he was taking his talents. 

You look at this from the surface and you see a guy just trying to hog the attention. 

Still, being real, you have no idea why he chose to provide his decision the way he did. You have no idea what type of influence his marketing team, close friends and family had on the way he made his decision.

Maybe he truly and legitimately believed the way he announced his decision was the best way for his career and his fans. 

At the end of the day, he still donated the money earned from the hour-long special to charity, so it wasn't this total act of selfishness as everyone made it out to be. 

None of us besides James and his entourage truly know why he did the decision the way he did. 

Final Thoughts: Being REAL

My point in writing this article was for one sole purpose: To tell people to get real. 

I'm not trying to tell you to not hate LeBron James or the Miami Heat. I'm telling you to hate them for the right reasons. I'm telling you to hate them for legitiamate and logical reasons. 

If you hate James and the Heat becasue they pose a real threat at your team being successful, then you are being real. If you hate James as a player because he chokes in the clutch, then you are being real. If you hate him because he scored 10 points in the final two minutes of a game to beat your favorite team, then you are being real.

If you hate James because he chose to form a super team that would benefit his career, then you are hating for a fake reason. If you hate LeBron for the way he made his decision (excluding Cavs fans), then you are hating for a fake reason. If you hate the Miami Heat for having the ability to put together a super team or you accuse them of "cheating," then you are hating for a fake reason. 

My point is be real and just admit that the hatred stems from nothing other than it impacts the success of your favorite team. 

For more REAL and FAKE talk, check out the SportsREAL Twitter handle: @SportsReal