From CNBC’s Darren Rovell:

In January 2010, The Q Scores Company took a poll of the general population and found that 24 percent of people thought of James in a positive light, compared to a 22 percent negative opinion.

Henry Schafer, executive vice president of the company, told CNBC that the average sports personality has a 15 percent positive score and a 24 percent negative score.

“LeBron’s positive score at that time was the highest we had ever seen it,” Schafer said.

But since “The Decision” show on July 8, things have gone seriously downhill for the NBA star.

LeBron’s Q Score today?

Schafer says that now only 14 percent of the general population see him as a positive figure, a 41.6 percent drop, while 39 percent view him in a negative light, a 77 percent decline.

In fact, LeBron is now the sixth most disliked sports personality, according to The Q Score Company, behind Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco and Kobe Bryant.

I’d say this was a major problem for LeBron – but I trust the population of just about every city outside of Cleveland to be fickle enough to hop right back on the bandwagon…many after his first game (and the subsequent media overload) in Miami, most of the rest right after he (finally) wins a game in the NBA Finals. And if/when LeBron finally wins his first ring, people will say in unison, “Oh right, LeBron used to play for Cleveland, when they still had a basketball team.”