The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off their sixth straight season in which they missed the NBA playoffs, but still had a healthy LeBron James and a promising young core.
However, shortly into the 2019 NBA offseason, they traded nearly all of that young core for Anthony Davis, a move that appears to be working out ideally for both the Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans.
Through seven games, the Lakers are 6-1, including great wins against the Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, and San Antonio Spurs.
Because of this success, the Lakers have found their way back to being one of the most hated teams in the league. In fact, the Lakers are the most hated team in the league according to Twitter, via Caitlyn Holroyd of The Score:
Twitter map shows Lakers are most hated NBA team this season. ???? https://t.co/15ySHQ8I6R pic.twitter.com/ostoOQdN3M
— theScore (@theScore) November 7, 2019
After starting 6-1, the Lakers have already reclaimed the most hated team crown in 34 of the 50 states. This is a drastic change from previous seasons where the Golden State Warriors had that near-unanimous crown.
The Warriors still came in second, taking 11 of the other 16 states. The Los Angeles Clippers were the most hated in three states, including California. Finally, the Houston Rockets were the only non-California team represented with two states with those being Utah and Oklahoma.
The only surprising thing about this map is the Boston Celtics not making the cut. The Celtics and the Lakers sit atop the league, but the former has received less media attention due to the lack of interest surrounding their roster.
At the end of the day, when the Lakers are good, they will likely be hated.