There were two kinds of basketball fans in Cleveland during the NBA Finals.

Those rooting for the Dallas Mavericks and those rooting against the Miami Heat.

Fans poured into sports bars to root against LeBron James, the guy they used to love but now loathed.

James jilted the city nearly a year ago when he sat on national television and thumbed his nose at Cleveland and its long-suffering sports fans, announcing he was taking his talents to South Beach.

Different shore, same result.

James is a loser. And that’s not just the Northeast Ohioan in me talking.

He’s proven it time and time again.

It was a familiar sight, seeing James fail when it mattered most.

James was awesome in Cleveland most of the time, racking up triple-doubles and taking a sad-sacked franchise and making it relevant again.

Shaquille O’Neal went to Cleveland to play ... willingly. That shows you James’ impact.

But when it mattered most — in the playoffs — James found a way to fail.

He gave up on the team and the city last year in Game 6 against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The writing was on the wall then. James was done.

He took his talents — and his penchant for choking — to South Beach, strutted on a stage before the ink on his new contract was dry and proclaimed he and the Heat would win “not five, not six, not seven” championships.

He was right. They haven’t won even one yet.

James is still stuck on zero.

Even as I was rooting hard for the Mavericks in the NBA Finals — and gaining a new appreciation for Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry — I felt kind of dirty.

I’ve never met LeBron James. He’s probably a pretty nice guy when he’s not getting bad advice from his handlers, tweeting something to rile up his former city or saying something stupid in a postgame press conference.

I was rooting with passion against him and the Heat. There was a fire in my belly.

I wondered if it is OK to rejoice in someone else’s failure.

Early Monday morning I came to a conclusion: Why, yes, it certainly is.

I keep thinking of that age-old lesson we learn even as kids: “What goes around, comes around.”

There is such a thing as Karma. It’s no more evident than in sports.

Now that James has flopped again on the biggest stage, I think I can move on with my life. I, like many fans in Cleveland and outside of it, was pleased that James and the Heat did not win it all this year, that his “Decision” and his strutting on stage was all for naught.

Well, after one more shot brought to you by a colleague of mine: Friday is LeBron Work Day: everyone can leave 12 minutes early.

There. Now, I can wake up tomorrow to the same life I had before I woke up on Sunday, to the same personal problems and move on.

Can you, LeBron?

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.