Giannis is the only player that’s consistently been likable without something stupid coming out about him or him acting like an asshole off court. He’s still a crybaby during games sometimes though
He never talked enough to be liked or hated really. Only reason anyone might’ve disliked him is because he was so good
he forced years of Rasho Nesterovic on us because he was too scared to play Shaq he quit on USA Basketball because he didn’t like fouling out
Jokic is generally very likeable, but it's hard to put white Euros in this kind of box because of the way people automatically tend to view them. It's pretty easy to be the "everyone likes him" guy when you're young on a small market squad doing it for the first time. People stop thinking it's cute after a while because you either outgrow it by winning it all and or by not winning enough to justify people talking about you like that.
Dirk and Duncan were the last two players that were incredible that were generally well liked honestly
What is your definition of "generally well liked" and how long into their careers are we talking about here? Because I would love to know the world you've been living in the last 20 years where Tim Duncan (or Dirk, for that matter) is more "generally well liked" than Steph Curry.
A lot of people soured on Steph towards the end of his career, as previously discussed on the last page. I’m talking about throughout their career and after no one has ever really disliked them
I would think Wade would go into the well-liked category, don’t think I’ve heard anyone have something bad to say about him
For the NIMBY stuff? You're way too online if you think that matters in a conversation about likeability to the masses. And people shit on Dirk for years before he won that title. He was never all that popular outside of Dallas until then. Then everyone pretended the 5-7 years before 2011 never happened.
I thought Duncan was generally disliked but I think that comes from living in LA in a bubble where all my friends and I hated the Spurs. He was 'boring' and he'd do the eye bulge thing every time he was called for a foul. Middle school me who was like a Fremen in Dune and loyal to Kobe thought Duncan was the devil. Took me awhile to appreciate him as a player which became easier when the Lakers were not in contention and I watched that brilliant team the Spurs had with Kawhi which was easy to root for just based on the aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball
Id say that’s the definition of this board tbh but yes, online discourse is where most people would gather likability nowadays. I guess we could sponsor dump and send him to games to question people with a mic
FWIW I do not have any issues with Dwyane Wade as he seems like a fine member of society but I did wish for multiple career ending injuries on the man ever since David Stern made the call to the officiating room in 2006 to make him a superstar
Think lebron’s decision had more to do with people loving dirk more than anything else as lebron and the heat were universally hated by fans same reason people loved that spurs team that clown stomped everyone including the Heat imo
Wade has turned into a tragic figure, as most Heat fans now hate him for having and accepting a trans child.
that 2011 Mavs team also swept the defending back to back champion Lakers who everybody hates so that entire run was 100% approval rating status unless someone is from Oklahoma
If you think Steph Curry's generally likeability to the masses is not on the same level as it was for Duncan or Dirk because of some low income housing development stuff that like 10% of fans even know about (and fewer than that care about), you need to put the phone down for a minute and take a walk or something.
Can confirm. The psychological stress I had over who I should actually want to win the 2011 finals was intense.
Yeah trying to argue that Steph is unlikable is the ultimate Twitter isn’t real life argument . That app hates Steph more bc he was the hurdle to LeBron catching Jordan in championships and just use the other stuff to pile on. for casual sports fans he is probably one of the most liked athletes in this country
Not sure the NBA thread here has ever been as unified on anything as they were for the Mavs in the 2011 Finals. A truly magical series that even in hindsight I wouldn't take back
I don’t think Dirk was hated, but prior to 2011 the consensus was that he was a soft Euro who couldn’t get it done in the big moments.
I hated that fucking Durant/Curry GSW team not because i hated them but because that team made things pointless because they were so much better than everyone else. Think beating that team helped improve lebrons likability quite a bit too
Steph definitely had near universal approval in 2013/2014. But as usual, everybody loves the plucky rebels until they become the evil empire.
team was hated but as players Draymond & KD were more of the focus of the hate . Well KD maybe not hated just lost respect of a lot of people
Durant was massively popular until he went to GS. Same with LeBron before Miami. I said it earlier but some of the Ant stuff reminds me of young Embiid. And that stuff is far more endearing and likeable from a fourth-year guy just making it than in year 10 when you still haven't won shit.
Dirk’s clutch numbers are actually pretty good His supporting cast or useless ass coaching usually always failed him
Ant is also an American born superstar when there isnt a lot of those around anymore plus he is the son of Michael Jordan
I don’t know I don’t think anyone wanted Boston to beat them for the last title except Boston fans. Feel like pretty much every Boston franchise is universally despised by all other fan bases I personally hate the Celtics, patriots and bruins and always have
Ant's shit talking is more in line with the MJ/Kobe/Bird kind (which people tend to view positively) instead of early Embiid's social media trolling
He was being held up as the anti-Lebron by certain segments of NBA media. Small market guy, doing things the “right way.” Watching all of those people turn on him after 2016 was as predictable as it was funny. I mean this was the framing of a NY Times article in 2010
I also think playing for Minnesota helps in this respect, KG was liked when he was with Minnesota and then went to Boston and the additional exposure showed everyone that he was an asshole.