Iman Shumpert Attempts to Explain Why LeBron James Gets So Much Hate

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James may be the most popular athlete in the world these days, but he’s also polarizing.

His former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Iman Shumpert explained why that is.

“’Cause he does it really well,” Shumpert recently said. “He ain’t got no marks on his resume. People just want him to look more like a person. They just want to mark him up a little bit ‘cause he’s trying so hard to do all the right things.”

Very few athletes in any sport have been put under the microscope for their entire adult life like James has. Ever since his junior year in high school in his native Akron, Ohio, he’s been in the public eye.

Like anyone else, he has had his missteps. In 2010, “The Decision,” during which he announced he would be “taking his talents to South Beach” to play for the Miami Heat, was seen as a PR disaster.

He garnered lots of hate for the move, and the world seemed to enjoy some schadenfreude when the Heat lost the 2011 NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks.

But there’s an old saying that 10 percent of life is what happens to you, and 90 percent is what you do about it.

James bounced back in a big way from “The Decision,” and is still arguably the best player in the world at the advanced age of 35.