The reluctance of white fans to embrace LeBron again is the principle reason his overall popularity lags behind what it was with the Cavs. It's easy to come up with theories on why this is so, and harder to prove those theories. Other demographics have been far more forgiving, though.
Over the 2009-10 season, 21 percent of black NBA fans listed LeBron as their favorite player. That figured dropped to 16.5 percent the season after The Decision. A steep drop, to be sure, but look at LeBron's popularity since. The season of his first title, as he lost more traction with white fans, LeBron crept back up to 19.25 percent among black fans. Our most recent figures have him at 23.5 percent among black fans, higher than his pre-Decision popularity.