They used to get hated on. It seems they have become more liked as they age... I guess because they just keep surprising people when people keep writing them off. Plus, a lot of people hate the Heat and will root for any team against the Heat in the Finals.
Not really the method that makes people hate HOU. I think it's the personnel. Dwight burned bridges. Harden has an ugly game, flops a lot, and doesn't try on D, Beverley is a pest who injures his opponents, and Morey is a pompous ass. You can go down the line...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...teams-are-the-most-hated-in-the-united-states reddit shows heatand lakers are the most hated
Rox doesn't even register on map of most hated in US. In map of the world, if you go by number of countries, Rox may not be the most hated. But if you take population into account, China, India, and Indonesia could together make Rox the most hated worldwide. I like how Canada and Alaska is not considered part of North America. In the US map, Alaska and Hawaii are missing. For all we know, it's a troll map/post.
Not enough people watch us on tv to hate the team...maybe internet-wise we might be hated pretty highly, but in the general population the team barely registers a blink.
As was stated previously, this is based upon reddit users which are hardly representative of the NBA fanbase. Another thing is that we don't even know what the sample size is or (like you stated) whether people just trolled the survey.
We are def top 3-5 most hated teams. Not because of what we've accomplished, but because of our stars' reputation around the league. It was well documented that there was a certain "glee" with the Rockets not getting what they want this summer. I don't recall that being the case with lots of other teams.
In order to be hated, you kinda have to be semi relevant at least. When was the last time Rockets done anything note worthy in the playoffs?
Let them hate! Let them loathe us! The ends sometimes have to justify the means. We are after a championship and occasionally bridges are burnt. Once another banner has risen and a trophy is placed among the other two, we shall be respected. The red jerseys will be in every city by both true fans and non. They will know the name and it will be called out once again like in the days of Dream. Just remember Clutchfans we believed first and will always Believe.
Winning isn't the only thing that makes you noteworthy. A superstar leaving one of the top markets in the NBA and one of the most storied franchises certainly rustled some jimmies.
