Kobe Bryant Still More Hated Than LeBron James

Filed under: Heat, Lakers, NBA Fans, Sports Business and MediaFollowing a widely panned one-hour special announcing his decision to take his talents to the Miami Heat, two-time reigning MVP LeBron James become the butt of derision and jokes (in that order) all over America. He was painted by much of the media and effectively all of Cleveland as a modern-day Benedict Arnold, a man who not only spit on his people, but stuck them on national TV to do so.

Pundits warned that LeBron's reputation, until then quite positive, would never recover. Luckily, there's something that measures the reputations of celebrities. It's called Q Score, and it is handed down by the branding gods for PR flaks to pore over (and stress over).

The results for LeBron? Darren Rovell of CNBC reports LeBron's Q Score has plummeted. Last January, 24 percent of the general population had positive feelings about King James. Post-Decision, that figure is at 14 percent. Similarly, LeBron's negatives have gone from 22 percent to 39 percent, the sixth-highest figure among all tracked sports figures. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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