The NBA is known for having the most hardcore following on social media of any professional sports league. There is a reason why #NBATwitter is widely recognized as one of the loudest collective voices on the platform.
That comes with its fair share of positives and negatives. The obvious positive is that NBA fans are always heard and never feel like their voice doesn’t matter. The negative is that NBA fans are always heard and never feel like their voice doesn’t matter.
This week, a study was released revealing which NBA players get the most love and hate on Twitter.
As noted by Alex Kennedy of BasketballNews.com, the study “compiled roughly 3,000 tweets that were sent to various NBA players between October 2020 to January 2021, and each tweet was analyzed for positive, negative and neutral words using the online analytics tool SEMrush.”
Who got the most hate? Surprisingly enough, it was Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry. Yes, the same guy who humiliates playoff-caliber teams on a seemingly nightly basis.
Apparently, of all the tweets directed at the former league MVP, 27.9 percent had a negative tone. That was the most of any player.
Right behind Curry was Russell Westbrook of the Washington Wizards with 24.6 percent, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers with 22.3 percent, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers with 22.1 percent, Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets with 21.7 percent and Kyrie Irving of the Nets with 20.7 percent.
Given the fact that Westbrook can’t even hit the rim on free throws anymore, Embiid is a proud internet troll, James literally evokes threats from fans, Durant loves to fight people on social media and Irving is, well, Irving — none of these should come as a surprise.
Which players got the least hate?
Just 14.6 percent of the tweets directed at Warriors star Klay Thompson were negative. Which makes sense, because as we saw on Valentine’s Day, Thompson is a lover not a fighter.
Interestingly enough, while Thompson wins out on not being hated, the player with the largest percent of positive tweets was actually Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Of all his mentions, 53.3 percent were deemed positive. The former UCLA standout’s lovability explains why so many players make it a point to send him special gifts for the holidays.
Which player got the most overall positive tweets? Hilariously enough, it was Curry. Not only did he get the most negative tweets, he also got the most positive tweets.
Apparently, it’s true what they say — there’s a thin line between love and hate.
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