LeBron James remains a popular target, subjected to Twitter rants that are hateful, nasty and even racist.
He went so far as to call Tuesday “Hater Day” on his Twitter account, @KingJames, adding: “Everyone please let them get their two minutes of fame and light! I love you Haters. Continue to make me proud of you guys! LOL!”
Among the messages he re-tweeted:
• “You are a big-nosed, big-lipped bug eyed [racist word]. Ur greedy, u try to hide ur ghettoness.”
• “No one wants to hear u speak. Why don’t you speak by laying ur head under a moving car?” James added the words, “Haaa, OK I’ll try that.”
• “I hope your cramps turn out to be a torn hamstring, [expletive].”
After Wednesday’s practice, James explained his decision to use Twitter to chronicle the invective.
“I just want you guys to sometimes see it also, to see what type of words are said towards me and towards us as professional athletes,” he said. “Everybody thinks it’s a bed of roses when it’s really not. For me, I have enough motivation. But it’s always good to have a little bit more.”
On Aug. 10, James notified the world, via Twitter: “Don’t think for one min. that I haven’t been taking mental notes of everyone taking shots at me this summer. And I mean everyone!”
James explained his interest in Twitter on Wednesday, noting the social media service “is somewhere where you can reach out to your fans who don’t get an opportunity to see you on an everyday basis. It’s not every day that I’m [using it] for motivation. It’s once in a blue moon. You need the world to see that no matter how many good things you do, you always are going to have people who downplay what you do. You use it to get better every day.”
James usually uses Twitter for more pleasant purposes, such as shout-outs to friends, random musings or thoughts on college football. He said the string of insults “hasn’t surprised me” and “doesn’t affect me at all. There always are going to be people who doubt you, and you just use that as motivation.”
And, he noted, “I haven’t said anything hateful back.” Instead, he spoke of “representing this franchise the best way I can.”