Athletes often take abuse on social media.
But a new study by Pickswise says Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James takes much more than any other athlete in the world.
The study says James received 122,568 abusive messages, which is an average of nearly 336 per day.
Pickswise says the data was collected from Twitter posts with words, phrases and hashtags with abusive terms directed at athletes between June 2020 and June 2021.
Soccer star Marcus Rashford received the second most messages at 32,328, while Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady ranked third with 28,151.
Other athletes ranked in the top 10 are Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant (No. 4 at 24,370), NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace (No. 5 at 21,750), Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (No. 6 at 20,904), Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer (No. 7 at 14,083), soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo (No. 8 at 11,757), Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (No. 9 at 11,203) and soccer player Mesut Ozil (No. 10 at 11,192).
James has been the target of some criticism on social media — most recently following a tweet about the fatal shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl in Columbus. The tweet caused a Cincinnati area bar to say they wouldn’t show NBA games on TV until James was “expelled” by the NBA. James later said he “fueled the wrong conversation” with his initial tweet.
Read more at usatoday.com
