On the display window of the Nike store in Gateway is a display of LeBron James driving towards the hoop. Imposed on the King are two words – “Beautiful devastation.”
It seems ironic now in the wake of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ monumental collapse however there is nothing beautiful about it. It’s devastating for sure. And darn ugly. One that wrenches, sunders, rends and you can pretty much add similar verbs to what it does to the heart and the soul of the folks in Cleveland and Cavs fans everywhere.
If Cleveland sports has been defined by Red Right 88, the Drive, the Shot, and the Shot II to name a few, then you can give a name for this one as well – The Big Quit (with no disrespect meant to Shaquille O'Neal). Yes, they quit. The weight of expectations and ghosts of past failures sapping their will and the fight out of them. I can't recall seeing an NBA team do that (elsewhere I have).
And now they face so much uncertainty as they head into the summer of LeBron.
Since David Stern became NBA Commissioner, there has only been one small market team to win an NBA title and that is San Antonio. They are an aberration simply because they were able to grab two number one overall picks in David Robinson and Tim Duncan and surround themselves with shrew choices that didn’t cost them much. Truth is, Greg Popovich is a more successful version of baseball’s the Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane. But now the well has dried up for the Spurs.
Having said that the chances of a small market team winning the Larry O’Brien trophy are small then that begets what is and will be the biggest question in pro hoops in the next few months – where will LeBron James play?
When was the last time a franchise player from a small market team stayed with the team that drafted him? Kevin Garnett departed Minnesota. Vince Carter left Toronto. Even Hakeem Olajuwon, the long time Houston Rocket eventually left in the twilight of his career. Right now the only one to remain is Duncan with the San Antonio Spurs. But such is life in pro sports with free agency. The bright lights beckon elsewhere.
But those franchise players when they left, did they win a title in a big market? Garnett did with the Boston Celtics two years ago. Carter is playing in the Eastern Finals with Orlando now (against Garnett’s Celtics no less).
It isn’t everyday that the hometown boy plays for the local team. The only notable one right now is Derrick Rose for his hometown Chicago Bulls.
Aproximately a decade ago, Magic Johnson hung the tag of “team of the 90’s” on the Cavaliers team of Mark Price, Ron Harper, John Williams, Larry Nance, and Brad Daugherty. Magic was wrong. Dead wrong because they happened to co-exist at the same time as Michael Jordan. So if a super team couldn’t win it (they only went to the Eastern Finals once and time and again they were destroyed by Michael power) could one man, one who dared to be called the King, win it all?
He’s been to the Finals once and the past four playoffs have been filled with heartbreak.
For sure LeBron cannot win it alone. He must have forgotten this back when he was in high school:
It would be cool for ‘Bron to stay in Cleveland but history shows that the small town boy will leave for the bright lights of the big city. Care to wager where he will be holding court?
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