Lavoy Allen is a truly great post-election opportunist

In the lead-up to the national presidential election, while many NBA players spoke, acted and donated in support of President Barack Obama, Philadelphia 76ers power forward and staunch conservative Spencer Hawes established himself as perhaps the league's most vocal supporter of Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Along the way, Hawes' fellow Philly frontcourt stalwart Lavoy Allen decided to join Spencer in backing the former Massachusetts governor, casting his ballot for Romney on Tuesday.

As we learned late Tuesday night, Allen's candidate came up on the short end of the electoral stick, leaving legions of Romney supporters pretty bummed out. Supporters like, for example, actress Stacey Dash, who last month announced her endorsement of the Romney/Ryan ticket. Dash, as you might be aware, is a very attractive woman. And Allen, as we now know, is a smart (or at least bold) man:

Community, compassion, consolation and the motivation to turn a negative into a net positive — Lavoy Allen, in this instance, is everything that can be right with an American's individual experience with the political process. You truly are an inspiration, Lavoy. (Especially to those of us for whom "Mo' Money," "Renaissance Man" and "Clueless" were, um, formative childhood experiences.)

Hat-tip to Chris Littmann of the Sporting News. For more NBA players' reactions to Tuesday's election, check out SLAM and SB Nation. Our pal Jay Busbee has reactions from athletes in other sports up at The Turnstile.