I suspect the twists and turns of his career are what people find interesting more than his actual personality. I know a guy who played golf with him and he said he's actually a fun guy to hang out with, as long as you're cool with a hypercompetitive guy relentlessly belittling you for four hours. Or, I suppose, you're Charles Oakley.
I think they're both great players, I don't really care much more than that. I do think that the Lebron hate is pretty bizarre but probably comes with the territory these days.
To be fair, early in his career and in college he he came across as charming. The stories you hear from, say, Bob Knight with the 1984 Olympic team give you an impression of who he was before fame made him more reserved.
But for people like me, who was a superfan in the 1990s...by that point he had essentially done his best to really downplay any personality outside winning on the court.
LeBron hate is bizarre, but fully expected. He came crowned before he did anything in the pros, and that turned some people off. And he decided here and there to make stands for political things (which is going to turn some people off always) but...then, like, wasn't consistent with his comments regarding China or Saudi Arabia, so it gives the impression the political positions are just about money. Which, fine. Jordan, as you note, was really just about the money. But he didn't really pretend to be other than that.
Ultimately LeBron is a guy who has not gotten in trouble off court, has been a loving parent, and taken some stands on things...and been an unbelievable basketball player.
