Written by Thomas Moore

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In Cleveland sports, it seems as if every team has one player that fans love to ... well, hate is too strong a word ... so let’s say kvetch about.

With the Browns that player is generally the quarterback, or at least every quarterback that has lined up behind center since Bernie Kosar last wore the Orange and Brown more than 20 years ago.

It is so bad for Browns fans at the quarterback position that we found ourselves in a discussion on Twitter the other night about the three best quarterbacks in franchise history. It’s telling that of the three, the one who had most recently taken a snap for the team last played along the lakefront in 1983.

But we digress.

For the Indians, the player on everyone’s list the past few years has been Matt LaPorta. That is understandable as LaPorta was the centerpiece of the C.C. Sabathia trade in 2008. LaPorta was supposed to hold down the first base job for years to come, as he reportedly could hit for power, get on base and drill line drives around the ball park.

But in three years with the Tribe, LaPorta has posted .238 career average, with 30 career home runs, a career on-base percentage of .304 and a career slugging percentage of .397, which has landed him on the undesirable list for many Tribe fans. At least this year, and probably for the foreseeable future, he will be Columbus’ problem and Clipper fans can deal with him.

But the Cleveland player who is probably the most divisive – and it surprises us – is the Cavs Antawn Jamison. The starting power forward is second on the team in scoring (15.5 points per game) and rebounding (5.7 per game) and, after a 19-win season in 2010-11 that featured a 26-game losing streak, Jamison has helped the Cavs be entertaining and actually watchable this season.

Every time the Cavs play, however, our Twitter timeline blows up as Cavs fans vent about Jamison; everything from his array of odd shots to his laissez-faire attitude about defense. If someone only went by the comments, you would think that Jamison is a cross between Mel Turpin and Paul Mokeski.

The thing we can’t figure out is – why?

Jamison arrived in Cleveland in February of 2010 to be a complimentary player on the 60+ win teams of LeBron James. Jamison was never supposed to be the main focus of the offense – especially not at age 35 and with 13 years and 943 career games played.

His shooting percentage is currently at a career low of .402, which is likely a combination of Jamison being one of the few offensive threats on the Cavs and one of the few options if the breaks down. And Jamison doesn’t lack for confidence on offense, saying earlier this season that “I can still get it done on a night-to-night basis offensively.” (Although he may want to rethink that a little bit.)

Even if he occasionally shoots too much, Jamison still has value for the Cavs, primarily in mentoring the younger players, along with Anthony Parker, on the ways of the NBA. And with Jamison in the starting role, coach Byron Scott has been able to let rookie Tristan Thompson get his feet wet playing against the opposing team’s second stringers.

While his role on the team has changed in the past two years, Jamison remains, in most respects, the player the Cavs and their fans thought they were getting when the team made the trade. Have a the Cavs won a title with him? No, but that’s not really because of anything he did or did not do.

And with Ryan Hollins (who posted a minus-14 against the Heat on Tuesday night with four fouls, three turnovers and one rebound in 10 minutes of action) still on the Cavs, is it really that hard to find someone to complain about?