It Is Totally Fine To Boo LeBron

Boo.

Sorry: BOOOOOOO!

I hope the Cavs fans boo tonight. I hope they boo loudly. I hope they boo mercilessly. I hope they boo everytime LeBron touches the ball. I hope they’re booing all the way until he heads to the locker room after the game has ended.

I hope they boo for two big reasons:

(1) It will make them feel better. Don’t buy this bogus argument that it will make them look petty in front of the rest of the country. The rest of us feel a paternalistic sense of pity for Cleveland fans; all the more reason they should take advantage. It will be a cathartic moment.

(2) Booing is as fundamental of a right for sports fans as cheering. It is elemental: The cheer and the boo are the yin and yang of being a sports fan. When things go wrong -- bad call, poor play, classless free agency announcement -- a boo is entirely appropriate.

We can disagree about certain instances of booing (although not as many as you might think), but I think we can all agree that if it was you who was the poor Cavs fan schlub, you’d want to boo, too.

So boo away. You have the full support of this corner of the world.

BTW: The theory I threw out earlier this week and last month about LeBron-as-Sportsman of the Year wasn't just contrarianism. I honestly believe it. SBNation's Andrew Sharp does a really good job of laying out the reasons why. Worth a read.

-- D.S.