A young kid said stupid things. Most athletes have at some point or another. I personally think that in the age of 24/7 ESPN, Deadspin, blogs, sports talk radio, etc etc. trying to constantly grab attention that this polarizes the fans. Mild dislike of Lebron at 19 years old turns into hatred since you can't escape stories and commentary about him. It works the other way as well creating uber fans, but it seems there is an ever shrinking middle ground.
Tebow, Favre, Lebron, JFF, A-Rod...People love or hate the circus that surrounds these overexposed athletes, but in my opinion the athletes themselves have done very little to justify the strong feelings.