LeBron James explains why he demanded respect after Lakers won title

“For me personally after all that I’ve accomplished still in this league there’s a conversation of like doubt. And I can hear and I can see it,” James said, as transcribed by TalkBasket.net.

“... Just from people that really ... that the basketball world because there’s people on TV and there’s writers that write that people in the basketball world really listen to and they really believe. I’m not going to give any of those names on this show because they don’t deserve it. That continue to discredit or continue to not to understand what the drive that I put into it.

“They talk about these players ‘He doesn’t have that same drive as him’ or ‘He doesn’t have have that same mentality as those if he did…’ and they see what I continue to accomplish. So it was a reassurance to myself. But it was also like to the naysayers and to the haters which will always be there even after I’m done playing.”

James' résumé unquestionably places him among the greatest basketball players of all time. It's possible being anointed as such even before he proved himself in the NBA provided his doubters and detractors ample ammunition to diminish every accomplishment and career benchmark or success that came along.

That certainly doesn't make any of their LeBron hot takes correct, nor does it mean that they will stop deriding the superstar and his achievements anytime soon. That said, it's clear the criticism has an impact on James.