The Cleveland Cavaliers are the 2016 NBA champs. Against all odds, LeBron James and company managed to come back from a 1-3 deficit against the reigning champs, the Warriors, to claim the NBA title. It was the first major Cleveland championship in 52 years. It was also the first NBA title that the Cavs have ever won. It was an accomplishment for the ages and I cannot be more thankful to finally see a championship in Cleveland.
Cleveland has finally been set free from the curse. It seems as if one championship has alleviated a lot of the pain and suffering that Cleveland sports fans have endured over the past 52 years. The drive, the shot, the fumble, and the decision come to mind. Cleveland fans have pretty much seen it all and I firmly believe that it was time for Cleveland to do something great and historic. It hit me pretty hard, seeing my parents almost in tears after the Cavs won a championship. They have basically gone their whole lives without seeing a Cleveland championship. I thought that 21 years was bad enough.
I was listening to ESPN Cleveland 850 WKNR like I do at my desk every day. It was around games five and six. I remember Brian Windhorst joining "The Really Big Show" with Tony Rizzo and he said, "In order to break a curse, you have to do something great." That stuck with me throughout the remainder of the finals and it became blatantly clear that he was spot on. The Cavs were the first team in NBA history to come back and win a series down 3 games to 1. They also were the first team to have two players score above 40 point in a game. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James were fantastic throughout the finals. After lots of scrutiny, Kevin Love played a big role in the victory in game 7. The Cavs ended the Warriors' historic season with a finals loss. It was quite the collapse from the Warriors. The unanimous MVP Stephen Curry was torched all series by Kyrie Irving. Curry did not play with his usual form. Which, as a Cleveland fan, we were all fine with that. It just might be a grown man's league. It is an NBA Finals that will be talked about for generations due to all of the story lines that went along with it.
The tide has turned for sure. Cleveland now has the block, the shot, and the stop. Love, Irvine, and James all put their stamp on game seven to secure the win in the last two minutes. The city is booming. I'm sure that many of you have gone broke since the win. You have to have all of the championship apparel. I saw that Dick's Sporting Goods is reporting their highest sales ever after a championship game. I had my grandparents driving all over Cleveland to find me a copy of the championship Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The championship parade was out of this world as well. I was watching it from our beach house in Florida and I was amazed. Roughly 1.3 million people were in downtown Cleveland to support our champions. I don't think that there has ever been that many people in downtown Cleveland. There were people everywhere. The parade was very slow due to the fact there was not enough room through the overcrowded streets. It solidified the idea that Cleveland has the best fans in the country.
Everything has been unbelievable. I still wonder if this is just all a dream. I know that LeBron James joked around, saying that he's waiting to wake up and find that it's still game five or something like that. It was a fairy tale ending for a city that had been longing for the day when Cleveland would bring home a championship. We have finally seen it and it was surreal. To make things even better, the Indians are playing great and there's hope that the Browns could be showing some improvement with new coaches and players. I can assure you that I can get used to Cleveland winning championships. I am hungry to see another one because the feeling is indescribable. Cleveland is no longer the mistake by the lake. Cleveland is on top of the world, where nothing is given and everything is earned.
