"Let me tell you something son, you get that hatred out your heart, or you'll end up just another n*, like your father."

I should understand haters, but I don't. See I'm supposed to be a Lebron hater, except I have nothing against Lebron, I even most times feel sorry for him. I don't want him to win games, championships, MVP awards etc. But that's because I don't believe he will... yet.

Does that make any sense at all? Let me articulate if I can, I 'hate' on Lebron because he's a product of a system I don't like, the man himself can play. No doubt. No question, it's the hype surrounding him I don't like. The cheques cashed too soon. The reward first, accomplishment second mentality that has everyone proximate to Lebron preoccuppied.

It's bullshit, nobody gives it to you, you got to take it. Work first, reward later all of that. So my 'hater' status is more like 'Hype-backlash' of which I sampled this particular enlightening excerpt:

Over-enthusiastic fans can also provoke this reaction; of course, a fan of something is always going to be particularly committed and convinced of it's quality, but they can let their enthusiasm get out of hand. Often, this trope results when a person initially only had a mild dislike, or even just a passive disinterest, in a particular work - until over-enthusiastic fans of the work start harping on and/or berating the person for not enjoying the work as much as they do. This can often have the affect of making the person suddenly hate the work that he or she previously had no strong antipathy towards.

I'm still bubbling with endorphins from the Lakers Game 7 clinching of back to back NBA championships vs. Boston yesterday. That the series went to 7 makes the victory all the sweeter, that the Lakers chased it down right up to the last 4 minutes of game time or so compounds the sweetness two-fold. That I've had to endure for the past week and a half thanks to pay-tv broadcast rights loud mouthed Kobe/Lakers and perplexingly Phil Jackson haters (some of which smelt suspiciously of urine) made for an incredibly stressful build-up then huge release when they snagged the title.

For me there were only three legitimate reasons to be a hater for the series:

1. You live in LA.
2. You live in Boston.
3. Kobe Bryant had had past sexual misconduct with you personally.

Otherwise I really couldn't see what was there to hate, I was perplexed by the annoying level of hatred. On the Celtics you have veteran stalwart champions like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rasheed Wallace. All have game, all are loveable. You have the emerging talent of street style hussle, best rebounding point guard in the league Rajon Rondo. You have the bench characters of 'Big Baby' Davis, and the always entertaining Nate Robinson. You have one of the best coaches and most likeable in Doc Rivers.

Sure I can understand why somebody would like the Celtics, but on the Lakers you have vets Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest. You got up-coming stars like Andrew Bynum, Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar you have inbetweeners like Pau Gasol. You got the loveable bench players like Luke Walton, and Vujekic. You have pretty much the greatest coach in any sport ever in Phil 'Action' Jackson the Zen Master.

I picked LA, I wanted LA to win pretty much for the same reasons I don't like the Lebron Hype. Phil Jacksons formula for success has been hugely influential on me, his book 'Spiritual Hoops' is a must read. I like to see his philosophy of coaching validated with an ever increasing collection of championship rings.

But that's all, aside from that, I want, have always wanted a contest. No matter what sport, or even outside the context of sport, blowouts are not enjoyable even if my team wins. It's pointless, meaningless and brutal. When the Geelong Cats won that AFL premiership against Port Adelaide by 100 points or something, it was easily the worst Grand Final I have ever witnessed. I actually wish there'd been a forfeit rule or something just to end Port's misery.

So I don't understand haters. Why would you hate people just for accomplishing something? What a pointless source of hate to introduce to your life. Particularly when it comes to being a sports spectator, where unless you are bringing the noise in a stadium somewhere you literally have no influence on the outcome of the game.

Sure, no sport is as entertaining when you aren't emotionally involved, when you don't want a particular side to win and a particular side to lose. But focus on the positive, want somebody to win. Fuck if I was in a footrace against Satan I don't want a bunch of Satan hating christians to turn up to support me in 'tohm' branded merchandise with the tags still hanging off them. I want tohm supporters not satan haters.

So you're life is insignificant? Hating Kobe won't fix anything.

Lastly, I feel I missed an opportunity to get up in some fuckazoids face and scream 'in your FUCKING FACE hater!' yesterday, I was sorely tempted. He was an annoying douchebag that was I suspect trying the patience of even the most stalwart Boston supporters present, but ultimately I restrained myself, kept it dignified because well, I don't see the need to hate the haters. I simply don't understand them.

*the quote is from 'He Got Game' spoken by Denzal's character, I dropped the n-word because these haters would probably see it as something to aspire to.