Survey suggests Gilbert Arenas among most disliked sports figures
by CJ Hempfield on Sep 2, 2010 11:36 AM EDT
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In his NBA.COM article Fran Blinebury said that "a market research poll found Arenas to be one of the most disliked people in sports." After a little Googling, I was able to track down the source of that information to Forbes Magazine and market research firm, E-Poll Market Research.
On June 18th Forbes Magazine published "The Most Disliked People in Sports." You can also see it in pictures here. According to its website, E-Poll specializes is research for agencies, brands and entertainment companies. It also appears that Forbes and E-Poll partnered on this survey. Forbes created their list of "people in sport" by using E-Poll's celebrity database. This is important because not every individual associated with a sports franchise would be considered a celebrity. For example, the Wizards only appeared to have two people listed in their database - Gilbert Arenas & Antawn Jamison. The point is that this survey began with a relatively small universe, only those that have a certain amount of "celebrity status."
From there it appears that Forbes used E-Poll's services to conduct the actual survey. According to reports, E-Poll surveyed 1,100 people nationwide. I find it curious that they surveyed people age 13 and older. (How and why did they include kids in its survey?) It is not clear if the survey was given in-person (such as at the mall), over the telephone, through e-mail, etc. Ultimately, they asked individuals to list the sports figures they disliked most.
Here were the results as published on Forbes.com:
- Michael Vick - 69%
- Al Davis - 66%
- Ben Roethlisberger - 57%
- Tiger Woods - 53%
- Jerry Jones - 53%
- Mark McGwire - 48%
- Terrell Owens - 47%
- Alex Rodriguez - 45%
- Allen Iverson - 45%
- Gilbert Arenas - 44%
Yes, Gilbert made the list, but it appears to be directly aimed at the entertainment side of sports. The short-term implications appear to revolve around potential sponsorship opportunities for Mr. Arenas. E-Poll does much of their work with brand managers and advertising agencies to help give them a sense of who would be a good spokesperson for their product. But as we know, time heals most wounds. If Gilbert regains his form from 2006/7 (or something close to that) and the Wizards have some success, he will be able to repair his image and regain some of his lost sponsorship opportunities.
Let's consider this question from the perspective of a diehard sports fan and open it up to you. But since this is a Wizards blog, let's limit responses to NBA players.
Who, aside from LeBron James (too easy), is your most disliked figure in the NBA and why?
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I wonder where LeBron would be on that list if they were to do it today?
A lot of people hate Kobe. Personally I love him but a lot think he is too arrogant and cocky. Then again there is the incident in Colorado…
Good question. Had the survey been conducted a month later, the results could have been different. Following his decision, I think that it is likely that he would have cracked the top 10.
Follow me on twitter - @CJ_202SB
by CJ Hempfield on Sep 2, 2010 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Here are a few . . .
Shaq – hated at first bc/ his Lakers teams were too dominant. Now bc/ he is a clown and burned so many bridges.
KG – loved in his early days with Minnesota. Now his play has dropped off too much for the chest thumping theatrics.
Bruce Bowen – dirty.
Crash Wallace – think everyone knows why.
Dwight Howard – do not enjoy watching him play.
Slam Duncan – boring.
NBA players that are likely hated that I love bc I think they would be cool to hang out with:
Stephen Jackson
Ron Artest
JR Smith
shine like bald head, smoke trees call me log head
From your list
KG is the winner for me. I can tolerate trash talk, particularly when you can back it up. But last year’s incident with Andray Blatche, in my opinion, went beyond talking trash.
Follow me on twitter - @CJ_202SB
by CJ Hempfield on Sep 2, 2010 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions
100% agree with Artest point
Kinda would like to hang out with Z-Bo too. Not be involved with whatever illegal activity he is currently doing, but just kinda be a fly on the wall.
Varajao. Too many flops.
"...at some point, when u r screaming for more minutes for Pecherov, you have to ask yourselves this question: 'If you keep adding more pineapple to a 'Papa Johns Pizza with Pineapple', when does it become a Papa Johns Pineapple with Pizza???'"
by Gilbert4SpaceJam2 on Sep 2, 2010 12:08 PM EDT reply actions
LeBron would definitely be in the top 10 if this were a national poll conducted today
Obviously he’s at the top of the list for me. Anderson Varejao is up there too. A lot of the baseball/steroids guys have to be on the list. Especially ones that lie in court and won’t admit anything, a la Roger Clemens, Raffy Palmeiro. I’ve also never like Tebow, probably in the minority there. Most of the SEC for that matter, hate them.
On a side note, Nyjer Morgan is getting a lot of hate for what he did last night, but personally I think it was pretty bad-ass.
After playing him three straight years in the playoffs
Varejao has to be one of my least-favorite. But I really don’t like “Booby” Gibson either: a one-dimensional bench player who shaves a star in his hair (which I took as just a touch self-absorbed) and played for LeBron’s Cavs will get no affection from me.
"If you're going to build a time machine, why not do it with style?"
This is why a good agent is worth every penny. Gilbert needed a P.R. campaign in his favor during the entire debacle — plus the ability to follow instructions issued by the hypothetical P.R. people, which maybe was a problem, I don’t know — in retrospect, it looks like the NBA created the story they wanted others to see, and that’s the only thing lingering in the public’s mind right now. Buy With Guns = Bad Guy; without any context.
I totally agree
I’ve been arguing over in another thread that the media coverage about Gil during the debacle really shaped people opinion of Gil. Gil didn’t have someone out there pumping story about the good things he was doing in the community. He just got stories published about him going to the bathroom in a teammate shoes and bingo Gil ends up on a list as being one of the most disliked people in sports.
Varejao for all the flops, Damon Jones for hurting us with 3’s as a member of the Heat (‘05) then Cavs (’06, ‘07), Bruce Bowen for being a dirty player, KG for the trash talking with Blatche bit last year, and LeBron for the playoff games (I’m indifferent towards his decision). Also, I hate Michael Ruffin as a player with such a passion when he played with us. He’s probably a real nice guy, but watching him made me sick.
LOL!!!
“Also, I hate Michael Ruffin as a player with such a passion when he played with us. He’s probably a real nice guy, but watching him made me sick.”
I was on M Street during the playoff series with Cleveland in 07 (it was the year EJ played Etan over Haywood in the playoffs) and I saw Susan O’Malley walking down the street. I ran up to her and asked why is EJ playing Etan over Haywood and Ruffin over Blatche. I said I hate Ruffin. She assured me Ruffin was one of the nicest men she ever met. I walked away from talking with her thinking that he may be nice but I still hate his game. BTW – Ms. O’Malley could not have been nicer.
Dwayne Wade
Although he is much more adept at keeping his PR head above water, I can’t help but hate the fact that he is the conniving maestro behind the Heat team we will face for the next 6 years. He took 8 potentially entertaining games each year ( 2 CLE, 2 TOR, 4 MIA ) and cut it in half. At least it will be entertaining to stomp the Cavs twice.
My list (current players only)
KG – I loved him in Minny…… hate him in Boston. He went from being a great player carrying a mediocre team on his back – all the while, playing hard every night, keeping his mouth shut and suffering in silence – - – - to an arrogant trash-talking bully; who’s game has deteriorated to the point that he needs to use intimidation and false intensity to pump himself up enough to be relevant.
What ever happened to the “taunting” technicals in the NBA? KG should be hit with one of those every night….
Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson – ticking time bombs…. Very Rodman-esque…
Varejao….. just because of his hair.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
Meanwhile we're stuck
With Arenas,his bad contract and the negative karma. There’s gonna be a lot of positive attention to the wiz and JW but just as much negative because of arenas. Wiz dont need that now! its a new era, time to turn page.
Meaning: a trade
just losing his bad karma for capspace alone would be good enough for me
I disagree
I don’t believe Gil brings bad Karma to the team. It’s clear that while Gil was gone AJ and CB developed an unwritten rule on the team that everyone deferred to them which was backed up by the coaches. This made the other players on the team reluctant to shoot and do anything else on the court. Without those two on the team, the Wizards played better. They will continue to play better this year with Gil coming back just wanting to play and be apart of the team.
You don´t think
that for every remark on the bright future of the wiz going forward with JW there will be a ``But Arenas….bladibla….guns…injury…..Blabla…..ego.``??
I´m pretty sure there will be. Thats what i mean with bad karma around the franchise. Maybe i should have said we don´t need Arena´s negativity that comes with his return or something. Besides i dont think he would like to be confronted with the negative history here all the time. A fresh start on another team could do wonders for him to.
Now i agree with you that its a good thing that practically the whole roster was traded away cause that just was a bad situation, on and off the court.
by Dutch Hoopfan on Sep 2, 2010 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Sasha Vujacic
I love watching his fellow countryman Goran Dragic tear him up in the playoffs last year.
Brian Scalabrine
I can’t put my finger on it. I just feel sad for the NBA every time I see him thinking that he made the league.
Joe Johnson
Joe Johnson might have had a shot on this list too if it was later because of the way he acted last year during the playoffs and that ridiculous contract he received.
And yes Lebron would be up there for obvious reasons.
Nyjer Morgan and Albert Haynesworth are slowly overshadowing Gilbert here as the most hated athletes from this area.
If this poll was done today Gilbert wouldn’t be on this list.
by ThePGPhenomenon on Sep 3, 2010 10:42 AM EDT reply actions
I know this list was for figures in sports but, the ONE MAJOR theme I see is that these people are not just in or around the game but at one time it seems they all are or, were at or near the top of the game in their particular sport. This is nothing more than mass communication programming> They build ’em up, tell the world how much money they make or what theyre worth and then, THEY TEAR ’EM DOWN. Verajo, Reddick, B.Bowen….none of those dudes are NEAR the top of anything so, no coverage. In closing -YOU HAVE TO BE OR HAVE BEEN REALLY GOOD TO BE ON THAT LIST!! And while we are all in on this John Wall Back For The First Time worldwide tour, Gilbert Arenas will open the show and will be GREAT. AGAIN!
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