“Cleveland, This is for You.”
The moment one man changed an entire city.
After years of disappointment, Cleveland was ready to find a player that could build their franchise. Being the worst team in the league, the Cavaliers were in line to have the first pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. On June 26th, 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted a high school kid out of Akron, Ohio who would turn out to become one of the greatest players to ever play the game. LeBron James came out of high school as one of the best athletes that people had ever seen at the young age of 18. Many had labeled LeBron as “The Chosen One” due to his great success at St. Vincent-St. Mary high school. After announcing that he was skipping college to attend the draft, LeBron became the hottest topic of the upcoming NBA Draft.
LeBron began his career in Cleveland where he led the Cavaliers to the playoffs in his third year with the team. He obtained a Rookie of the Year award as he averaged 20 points a game in his first season. LeBron’s time in Cleveland was cut short by the desire for a championship. LeBron “took his talents to South Beach” to join all stars Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in Miami. Cleveland fans were betrayed and frustrated that their franchise player just left the team. In Miami, LeBron made the finals four times and won the championship twice. After a few rebuilding years in Cleveland, LeBron decided to head back to his roots in Ohio to lift the curse.
Before the 2016 NBA season, the city of Cleveland had gone through many years of disappointment and struggles in the sports world. For 52 years, Cleveland had not produced a team that won a championship in any major league sport. The Indians have not won a championship since 1948 despite winning their division six times in seven years from 1995 to 2001 and making the World Series three different times. The Browns also have not won a championship for Cleveland since 1964 although they also have made appearances to the Super Bowl in years past. After a long 45 years in the league and a loss in the 2015 NBA Finals, LeBron James and the Cavs would not accept defeat once more.
At the beginning of the 2016 season in the NBA, there were high expectations that the Cavs would make it back to the Finals once again to play the Golden State Warriors. LeBron took matters into his hands and began to lead the team back to the big stage. If they were to make it to the finals again, they would match up against the same Warriors team that had been unstoppable for the past two years. The Warriors came into the playoffs only losing 9 regular season games. The regular season was one for the record books as the Warriors shattered the record for most made threes in a single season. The critics gave LeBron and the Cavs no chance which fueled them to thrive during the post season. Just like the analysts and fans predicted, the Cavs made it back to the Finals to play the Warriors behind a red-hot Lebron James.
Although the Cavs were playing well, they could not overcome the fire power that the Warriors obtained with their dominant starting lineup. In the seven-game series, the Cavs had already fallen to a 3–1 deficit. No team had ever come back from that big of a deficit in the NBA Finals in the history of the game. When faced with adversity, LeBron began to play his best basketball. LeBron gave off a type of energy and fight that the rest of the Cavs fed off. He began to carry the team under his wing and make an improbable comeback. After being down 3–1 in the series to one of the best teams to ever exist, Lebron brought the Cavs back and tied the series up 3–3.
If LeBron and the Cavs won game seven, they would be known for completing the greatest comeback in Finals history. With the Cavs only up a slim margin, LeBron made a play that will go down as one of the best hustle and determination plays of all time. After a missed shot, the Warriors ran the floor on a fast break opportunity. As Warriors forward Andre Iguodala went up for an easy layup, LeBron shows up from nowhere to make an incredible block by pinning the ball off the backboard. This is the play that would change the city of Cleveland forever.
“Big time players make big time plays in big time games” -Santana Moss
As the final buzzer went off and the game was over, the Cavs began to celebrate. LeBron received his much deserved third NBA Finals MVP. He helped to turn a city of grief into a city of joy and excitement. The curse was finally lifted.
