I am sure by now everyone in the world has heard about the Cleveland Cavaliers being the 2016 NBA Champions. I am sure that they scrolled through Facebook and clicked on one of the many articles that popped up and went on their way or they turned on the news and heard about it and went to bed. As for me, and many others in Northeast Ohio, the celebration hasn't stopped and I don't think it will any time soon.
Cities such as Boston, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles are used to this type of thing and probably won't understand why 1.3 million people gathered in Cleveland for a parade. It has been 52 years since Cleveland has won a championship. For 52 years people have been season ticket holders, gone to every game, watched every game on TV, continued to buy new jerseys when their old jersey player was off the team the next season, and sat in agony during every loss. Here are four reasons why this championship means so much to Northeast Ohio.
1. Lebron James
Okay, duh right? Everyone knows that Lebron plays a huge part in this celebration but does anyone really know exactly why he means so much to us? This 18-year-old kid from Akron, Ohio grew up 40 minutes away from where he would play professional basketball and pulled on our heart strings for 13 years. When he was first drafted he filled a whole new bucket of hope for us Clevelanders, or so we thought. We watched him bring us to the Finals in 2007, and then a few years later watched him announce on national television that he would be "taking his talents to South Beach and joining the Miami Heat." I remember that moment like it was yesterday. I felt like my boyfriend had just broken up with me and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do next. Just like everyone else, I started taking down the posters and putting everything I had in a box to put away.
I really didn't like watching him celebrate when he won the championships with Miami, but one thing for sure, is that I never denied his talent and I never stopped hoping he would come back. In July 2014, our buckets of hope were refilled. "I'm Coming Home" was released and I literally dug out my James jersey that day and wore it to work in celebration. This has been an ongoing relationship with Lebron for all of us. Most of us have loved him since the beginning and understood that he needed to go out and do what he needed to do but have been waiting for him to keep his promise. Lebron means so much more to us than just our NBA star. He has lived through the Cleveland drought with us, he felt our pain, he wanted this for his city, and he brought it home. He is one of us, and to top it all off he has such a good heart. He donates to so many different places and charities, sends kids to college for free, and has his own foundation to better youth lives in Northeast Ohio. The Cav's winning a championship without Lebron would still have been great, but something about him being a part of it makes it that much sweeter. His reaction at the end of Game 7 shows just how much this championship meant to him compared to the others.
2. The City
Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland. Also known as the "the black hole of Ohio." Not many good things are said about Cleveland. It is said that we have tons of violence, horrible education, bad health, and a declining economy. Anyone who reads that isn't naturally going to decide to move here. It takes someone who has grown up here to understand how great our city is. Maybe we don't have the safest suburbs or the best job offerings but we have pride in where we come from. When I moved to Tennessee, I thought how great it was that I could just go out any day of the week and there was always something to do. I would talk about how lame Cleveland was compared to Nashville but then when someone wanted to dog on my city, I was not having it. Nobody is allowed to talk about how bad the Browns are, only Clevelanders are allowed to talk about how bad the Browns are and then still watch every game on Sundays and complain the whole time. Cleveland may not have it all, but we love it anyways. There's just something about our city that makes us proud to say where we are from. This championship makes saying we are from Cleveland that much better.
3. The Underdog
I feel like Cleveland is always the underdog. No matter what the sport, nobody ever thinks Cleveland will win. Maybe this is because before now, we hadn't won in 52 years and nobody saw it possible, but we are just never chosen to win. I mean haven't we been through enough already? Steph Curry had already won MVP of the season unanimously going into the Finals and Lebron James still managed to prove why he is the most valuable player on the court. Maybe being the underdog isn't so bad. Maybe Cleveland enjoys being the underdog because we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Who doesn't love an underdog that comes out on top? Next year the Warriors are again favored to win the championship. I think that's just fine with us. We don't need any band wagon jumpers anyways.
4. Passion
Season in and season out, we show passion from the start to the end. Every sport, every game, every time. If you were in Northeast Ohio when the NBA Finals Game 7 came to end on June 19th, you felt that come full force. High fives and hugs were exchanged between strangers with the same passion and love in their hearts. It didn't matter the skin color of the person standing next to you, it didn't matter what their sexual orientation was, nothing mattered other than the fact that we have all stood by and supported our city for so long, and we had finally won a championship together. It was truly something special to see and still really great to feel a week later. I really felt like "one in a million" attending the championship parade (ha ha, literally).
The only people who truly understand what this championship means are the people from Northeast Ohio. That's the best part of it all. We all share this same love, passion, excitement, and feeling in our souls, and we feel it together. I love my city and I will never forget this feeling for the rest of my life. Thank you Cavs!
