Donald Sterling is no longer simply the most reviled man in basketball or even in professional sports. According to a new poll by E-Poll Market Research, the disgraced Clippers owner is the most hated man in the United States.
E-Poll this week released its list of the 10 most hated men in the country, and Sterling beat out Bernie Madoff and O.J. Simpson for the top spot. Of the people who were familiar with Sterling, 92 percent said they disliked him. In the 13- to 24-year-old male demographic, that number rose to 97 percent.
The news comes as reports suggest that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will buy the Clippers for $2 billion. The NBA last month pressured Sterling to put the team up for sale after tapes were released of him making racist remarks.
An interview with CNN, in which Sterling made even more derogatory remarks, secured his villainous image.
"Donald Sterling made these callous statements and then he has more than doubled down on them since then," Gerry Philpott, president and CEO of E-Poll, told ESPN.
For some perspective, Philpott told ESPN that athletes in the company's database were disliked by around 15 percent of the population.
In addition to Sterling and Simpson, the third sports figure who made the list is Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots tight end who has pleaded not guilty to two first-degree murder charges.
E-Poll surveyed 1,100 people between the ages of 13-49. Below is the complete list of the most hated men in America:
1. Donald Sterling
2. Bernie Madoff
T3. O.J. Simpson
T3. Conrad Murray
5. Justin Bieber
6. Phil Spector
7. Aaron Hernandez
8. Michael Lohan
9. Eliot Spitzer
10. Jon Gosselin
