The NBA Finals are in full swing. It’s been a fantastically ugly, weird, Finals so far and it doesn’t show any signs of getting any less strange. We’ve got Matthew Dellavedova diving onto the floor harder than a spinster laying out for an over-the-shoulder bouquet toss at a wedding, a wildly inconsistent Warriors team that appears to be dealing with living rigor mortis, and LeBron James somehow elevating a shirts V.S. skins YMCA lineup of talent to a 2-1 lead against the best team in the NBA.

And make no mistake: this is the Cleveland LeBrons V.S. the Golden State Warriors. LeBron is the GM, the coach, the Emperor and the King. He’s Michael Jackson and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers are Tito.

https://youtu.be/WxDBxd4qwxA?t=58s

And this amazing run by LeBron has divided many in the basketball and sports world into two camps: those who are rooting for LeBron (*Author’s note: again, they’re maybe loosely rooting for the rest of the Cavs, but most people outside of Ohio are cheering for the Cavs because LeBron is there and I’m totally fine with that) and those who are rooting against LeBron. I’m here to tell you why it’s okay to firmly plant yourself in that second camp.

The NBA is, ultimately, just a form of entertainment and it’s okay to have different tastes

I watched Citizen Kane once and I hated it.

I thought it was boring. It was slow. The unique and, at the time, ground-breaking visuals and stylistic gravitas that it possessed were not entirely lost on me, but I didn’t find it enjoyable. In the end, that’s what I look for when watching a movie: a two-hour breath of fresh air that allows me to be entertained.

My dad was a videographer and a film editor for Nebraska public television for roughly 30 years and my brother was a film studies major and they were jointly appalled by my lack of enthusiasm for what many consider to be the greatest film of all time. When Charles Foster Kane drops that snowglobe in dramatically close-up fashion and whispers “Rosebud” with his dying breath, my brother and father were held in rapturous attention. I was secretly hoping they’d change the channel to Die Hard.

They weren’t wrong to love the earth-shattering, solemn, greatness of Citizen Kane. And I wasn’t wrong to dislike it strongly and yearn for something different. You can recognize something’s greatness without liking it. You can acknowledge that something impressive is happening before your very eyes and still not really be cool with it.

Before we knew that Alex Rodriguez was ‘roiding harder than Sly Stallone when he was preparing for Rocky Balboa, people still really didn’t like him — in spite of his clear on-field prowess.

I am watching LeBron go full-on scorch-the-earth Old Testament destroyer of worlds on the Golden State Warriors and I hate it.

That’s what LeBron’s doing right now. He’s playing a Citizen Kane series before our very eyes.

His playoff run – and the finals in particular – are going to go down in history as maybe the best anyone has ever seen. But that doesn’t mean we have to cheer for him. It doesn’t mean we are required to genuflect before the greatness of LeBron. Because at the end of the day, sports are entertainment and it all boils down to preference.

While no one can deny that King James is slashing and burning through the Warriors like they’re Peruvian rainforest in the way of “progress” it doesn’t mean it has to be something you cheer for.

It doesn’t necessarily make you a hater

It doesn’t make you an internet troll to root against James (*Author’s note: unless you are truly an internet troll. Because Twitter is out there and some people treat it like it’s a 140-character Playa Haters Ball from Chappelle’s Show.) Sports are the most fun, I would argue the absolute zenith of entertainment, when there is not only a team that you’re cheering for, but a team that you’re vehemently rooting against. In the NBA, the league most driven by individual star power, this oftentimes manifests itself in cheering for or against an individual player.

Rooting against LeBron is, quite frankly, fun. It’s enjoyable to hope that someone who receives a massive amount of media attention and adulation from a large population of the sporting world might step into the ring and get haymakered. I’m not even saying that LeBron doesn’t deserve to get the attention and coverage that he does. He absolutely does. He’s the biggest star in a massive sport and is likely the most recognizable athlete in the world. But that doesn’t mean it can’t still wear on you, even if that’s only partially LeBron’s fault. Why do you think so many people – myself included – popped for the $100 Mayweather V.S. Pacquiao fight? We like the potential to see our self-created villains put on the black hat and battle the equally fan-created heroes.

We wanted to see Money May get dropped. Or we wanted to watch Pacquiao hit the canvas like a 145 pound pile of corruptible Filipino politician. But either way, we wanted a hero and a villain. It just made it more fun. Wanting that doesn’t make you a hater.

What does make you a hater? Trying to deny that LeBron James is great.

Because there’s absolutely zero argument to be made that LeBron is not one of the best that has ever laced up his own name brand of shoes and stepped onto the hardwood. There just isn’t. It’s definitive. It’s certifiably back-upable with any factual, nerd-driven data, and it totally passes the eye test, too. Where he lands on the scale of greatness? That’s entirely opinion based. It always will be. And I think that’s just fine.

People like to debate “greatest ever” and all the connotations that come along with being the acronymic G.O.A.T. but – and this is absolutely subject to change – there is still a debate to be had as to where LeBron lands. Saying he’s the greatest ever now is like declaring someone the Olympic Long jump champion while they’re still in the air. We’re not sure where he’s going to land, but it sure as hell looks like he’s flying out towards the lead.

Your “sports-hate” of LeBron James doesn’t need to be rooted in logic

Former ESPN employee, Bill Simmons, coined the term “sports hate” back in this column in 2009. (*Author’s note: full disclosure: this isn’t a particularly revolutionary idea, but I couldn’t find it anywhere prior to this post using Google. And that’s as detailed as I am with research.) “Sports Hate” is the best definition I can find to describe how I feel about LeBron James.

I know nothing about LeBron, off the court, that seems dislikable. He’s a really cool guy. He seems fun. He seems like he genuinely loves his children and is happily married. He has a shocking amount of humility, considering he’s been at the pinnacle of major professional sports since he was 18 years old, and all his teammates have nothing but nice things to say about him. In short, LeBron seems like a pretty chill bro. Off the court: I like LeBron James just fine.

That’s the thing with sports hate: in order to truly enjoy the benefits of sports-hating someone, you have to be able to delineate between on the court and off. You have to realize that this isn’t actual hatred, but something much more benign; much more simplistic and fun. Real hate is doing a shot of Barton’s vodka straight. Sports-hate is sipping a Grey Goose Martini. Yeah, they’re both vodka, but the difference should be so pronounced that there’s no trouble separating the two.

When LeBron James steps onto the court? I can’t stand him. I sports hate him. Any small flaw – a routine-for-the-NBA flop here or a disagreement with a ref there – is magnified by my irrational sports-hate of him. When he misses a shot I rejoice like I’ve just been touched by a healer in a tent-revival meeting in backwoods Louisiana. When he drains a clutch jumper, I shake my head in utter disgust and pull a face like I just stepped into dog poop in my front yard. With no shoes on.

None of this makes any sense in any context except that of the sports world. It makes me sound like I need to be heavily medicated — and maybe I do — but the fact is that many others share a similar sports-hate of other stars around the league.

It’s okay to hold grudges in sports

In fact, it’s encouraged. If you haven’t let go of “The Decision”, even though it was 5 years ago: who cares. This is sports. Grudges are part of the deal. We remember snubs, botches, blown calls, bricks and terrible personnel/personnel decisions as long as possible. It’s the history of grudges that make for the best rivalries. It’s the irrational fandom that allows us to revel in the insanity of deep-seeded disdain for entire cities based on the bounce of a ball.

So, if you still want to remember LeBron “taking my talents to South Beach” or the over-excited proclamation that the “Heatles” will win 8 titles: it’s absolutely your prerogative to do so. Just know, I’ll be right along there with, clinging to the past with zealousness.

In conclusion: it’s okay to sports-hate LeBron, as long as you’re not a big enough d-bag to pretend that he’s not really, really, awesome at playing basketball. Go Warriors.

FIN