That is definitely false. So you're telling me Kobe fans didn't hate on AI, Vince, Wade, Paul Pierce, Bron, and I know I'm forgetting about some others?
Your last sentence is definitely not true. There were a ton of AI fans, Vince fans, etc that were Kobe haters too. Again, like I said NUMEROUS times on here, whenever there were hate threads about AI, Vince, Tmac, Wade,Bron, etc, they were created the majority of, if not all, the time by Kobe fans. Let me know how often you remember seeing a Tmac hate thread created by an AI fan or a Wade hate thread created by a Tmac fan?
I'm SURE you guys have to remember the hate on Wade for no reason other than the fact that he got Shaq a ring without Kobe. Where you think the name D Whistle came from on here? It damn sure wasn't a Tmac, Lebron, AI or Vince fan.
Before you Kobe fans come with some stupid BS about everyone hates the "best" or whatever. I grew up watching Jordan, Penny, Grant Hill, etc and there was never no riff like there is now between Jordan fans and the Penny and Grant Hill fans. Jordan fans loved Penny and Grant Hill too.
for most part late 90's early mid 2000's ai was easily more popular then kobe...and to an extent so was tmac at least globally. Like i said this bandwagon of kobe fans didnt get full untill ai fell off, tmac same thing...and the introduction of lebron.
Not saying he wasnt popular, but hell if you look at all star votes, jersey sales etc... kobe wasnt even the most popular on his own team, let alone the nba.
Ppl forget especially with iverson how popular he was as a player. From the dedicated fan sites, the emulation of his game on the street courts, down to his sig crownrows and braids. Hell even at one point his shoes were up there in terms of popularity.
And your right...outside of indiana and knicks fans...werent to many ppl who hated mj. Althought there wasnt 24/7 monitoring of his life, actions etc... like there is now with players...via internet. But no one was on some oh if you like shaq you gotta hate akeem, or if you like ewing, you cant be a fan of the admiral. Ill admit there always was the boston/lakers/pistons to some extent fan rivalry. But even then aint like a boston fan said bird is the greatest and well magic sucks.... danny ainge is a point god and zeke is a loser..... No one wished death on players, nor did they make up lame excuses to hate the players, nor associate themselves with players as if they have a friendship, or at the very least an association with said players.
Dudes gave congrats to other teams, was unbias when their team played. And enjoyed a good game for the simple fact the enjoyed said sport.
You didnt have cats saying well oh this guy put up 30/15/10, but since he cheated on his wife he sucks and imma hate him for it, and he isnt fit to be an allstar. You didnt have guys saying well had 10 str8 40+ pt games, but i dont like his shoe line so he is grabage. Or the oh this guy had one good game against my rival team, and then proceeds to deem said player in discussion for h.o.f. Ala john starks great series against the bulls.
For as much as knicks fans wanted to beat the bulls...cant recall them burning mj's jersey. Now like ive stated you dont have fans of bball and the nba, you basically have jock riders, and because of the first takes, the blogs, twitter etc...they just like or dislike the drama/gossip assocaited with a player and or team.
Dudes nowadays in most part, especially young cats...sports is there version of reality tv,soap operas, tmz etc... They watch to see the drama, to hate and dislike players. They are influenced by social media and others what they should and who they should not cheer for and appreciate. And then they try to quantify and appear to be knowledgeble about the sport, by doing a quick wiki search, or watch some highlighted game, or highlight reel of a player to seem as if they are knowledgeble about said sport/and or player.
Not taking into account other factors that determine the game(s) or sport or the individual players. Ala kobe is good...cause i wiki his stats and they look good, i watch a 20 minute mixtape on youtube, and i caught a few games....have cats thinking they damn red auerbach, hubie brown ah something.