The polls are still open on Hate Poll #1: Your Least Favorite NBA Player Ever. And as of this writing it is a neck-and-neck race between the two most detestable players in NBA history: Kobe Bryant and Rick Fox. Robert Horry is playing the role of third-party spoiler, with Shaq clocking in a distant fourth. The remaining candidates are garnering nominal vote totals, including a handful of write-in candidates, of which Eduardo Najera and Sasha Vujacic figure prominently.

But the democratic process won’t wait. Other crucial issues require our attention. And so we must move onto our next ballot initiative, specifically, Your Least Favorite Active NBA Player. The nominations are in, and the StR readership has assembled a long list of eminently disreputable candidates.

In finalizing the list, however, we are faced with a quandary. Obviously Kobe has to be excluded because otherwise the second poll is pointless. But what about Shaq? Does he belong on the second ballot? Apparently his unpopularity has plummeted in the five years since he left Hell-A, as indicated in the early returns for Hate Poll #1. But is it appropriate to put him in both polls? If he wins, he would undercut the well-earned dishonor of many of the other candidates. On the other hand, maybe he deserves his owned exalted place in the annals of StR condemnation. 

In the end, after much deliberation (with myself), I have decided to include him. If he wins, he’s earned it. And if he doesn’t, then a new target for our collective disaffections will have been crowned.

And so, without further delay, won’t you please give a warm welcome to…