The Cavs are in the NBA Finals: While We’re Waiting…
May 27, 2015Ball Played: Indians cannot hang on by their fingernails in loss
May 27, 2015It could only be described as chaos. The playing floor of Quicken Loans Arena was covered in notecard-size wine and gold-colored confetti. Cavalier players were slowly filing off, having taken countless photographs with teammates, friends, and family, every one of them with an NBA Finals hat perched atop their head. General manager David Griffin weaved himself through the forest of seven-footers, embracing dozens of team employees. Team owner Dan Gilbert had his youngest son seated on his shoulders—one part 50-pound periscope, one part scaffold of safety—navigating about the floor, stopping momentarily for every photo inquiry. The Cavs had just swept the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks, doing so in decisive fashion, but it was almost as if the game had been a requisite rite of passage. From the moment LeBron James threw down a monster slam dunk with just two-and-a-half minutes expired, Game 4 was merely something that had to be addressed—like paperwork or a mid-day trip to the DMV—before this very moment could take place.
To rank celebrations would be a fruitless endeavor. There was LeBron James, the man who returned home to make this very moment possible, posing with his wife, Savannah, and their two sons. There was J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert in full-on embrace, both men being gifted this very chance thanks to a mid-season trade, yet both men playing such a vital role in the journey. There was Anderson Varejao and Matthew Dellavedova, one player injured and the other written off—at least until he was needed most and launched himself into the stratosphere of a cult hero. There was head coach David Blatt, forever doubted, but turning out one of the best head coaching displays in the history of Cleveland basketball. There was Kyrie Irving. There was Joe Harris. There was Damon Jones, reliving the very moments he was a part of as an eight-year veteran the last time the Cavaliers made it to the NBA Finals eight years earlier.
It’s special because it’s all worthwhile.
— David Blatt
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To feel as if the last eight months of this NBA season has felt like eight years would not be far-fetched. From the day these men—most of them, anyway—gathered in Cleveland Clinic Courts for Media Day, the starting blocks of any regular season, the message was clear: This team was going to have plenty of ups and downs, but the ultimate goal remained. The destination was known, but it would be the path that would provide all the questions. No one saw this conglomerate of talent sitting at 19-20 during the halfway point of the season. No one knew that Griffin would be able to swing two massive trades well before the league’s deadline. No one knew that James himself would require a two-week break to improve his health. Yet here they stood, hugging, laughing, dancing—eight months of incredibly hard work, both physically and mentally, all pouring itself out on the very floor that had been a proverbial battlefield up to that very moment.
When the team clinched the playoffs, there was some fanfare. When they clinched the second seed and went on to sweep the Boston Celtics, there was some excitement. But these events were expected—anything shy of these marks would have been a gigantic disappointment. It was in Game 5 against the Chicago Bulls when the emotion became palpable. But it would be Game 4 against the Atlanta Hawks where the feeling of ‘Oh my God, this is really happening’ started to flow through the veins of everyone inside of The Q. As much as the high-definition, at-home game experience has become the go-to for many, nothing—nothing—could replicate the feeling of what it was like to be not just in that building, but on that floor at that moment, the penultimate chapter having been closed.
The misuse of player skills, the random losses, the bizarre rotations—so many items from the last eight months could be dissected, split open on a stainless steel table and picked apart until no longer recognizable. But all of those issues, the rumors of in-fighting, the consternation between players and coaches, the Instagram uploads… Each of them rendered inconsequential as dozens of grown men wandered about, looking for the next friend, teammate or family member to grab. So much happiness, so much pride.
“It’s what we talked about this summer, trying to set the basis and guidelines of what it’s going to take to morph into a contender,” said James Jones to WFNY. “It’s moments like this that we had to push toward every day, not knowing what would happen, but recognize that this moment would come if we did what we were supposed to do. And we did. We fought through it. We got better every day and we did what we set out to do when we moved to Cleveland.”
After all of the Cavaliers were accounted for in the team’s locker room, employees were sent scrambling for Griffin, Gilbert and the rest of the Cavaliers ownership team. Smiles and Finals hats were worn at all angles. Music was still pumping through The Q. Each man, some with children, disappeared down the hallway to greet the team that had fought through so much turbulence to get to this very moment. They all know that the journey is far from over, but they know what was required to get them to this point and what will be asked of them over the next two weeks. The door closed behind them, but the celebration was audible from the hallway. A season of chaos, but finally the good kind.
20 Comments
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This has been a long time coming thank you Cavaliers and thank you LeBron James! I know the march is not over but people better appreciate the ride so far. Four more to go!
That was like the biggest confetti I’ve ever seen. And some cameraman even caught a quick Kevin Love smile.
Had this random thought watching J.R wipe away tears during the trophy presentation: Dion must be watching him on t.v. and thinking, coulda been me, shoulda been me, just stand and shoot! Stand and shoot!
Great piece. Great night. Great *team*. Great season.
Four more.
“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Just one little tiny problem as far as the former SG of the Eastern Conference Champion Cavaliers goes, Waiters can’t shoot!
“Dion, I served with JR Smith. I knew JR Smith. JR Smith was a friend of mine. Dion, you are no JR Smith.”
ah, but he sure thinks he can. This was my imaginary Dion interior monologue.
which is so true in a “damn you Chris Grant” sorta way.
I smelled what you were cookin’ big Harv I just needed to remind Dion he still can’t shoot!
Dion can’t hear you. He’s waiving his arms out on the wing but he just can’t hear you.
and I liked Dion. Which is sort of like looking back on a weird crush you had on a girl that might or might not have been a meth addict. Like, what was I thinking again?
That always amused me when he did that especially in OKC with Westbrook. Yea sorry Dion but no pass for you!
Check out Hot Clicks on SI.com JR Smith posted Instagram of him and the fellas celebrating in the “tub” lol.
Hilarious take. I literally laughed out loud at work.
I’m just happy nobody went down injured from confetti paper cuts. Because, JEEZ. That was some crazy confetti.
Seriously though, what a game, what a playoff experience (so far). The Cavs biggest challenge awaits, but I’m almost just satisfied with this.
almost.
We need some cartoonage of the Cavs (cough wheeze hack)!! ;o)
man, I wish! I’m fully digital now, and my old tablet died… just got a new surface pro 3, and struggling with getting the drawing capability set up. plus, the driver site down, GRR. I have this great idea for a Delly caricature.
until then, you can enjoy this again ;0)
Dirty Delly
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ahahaha I hadn’t thought of that, but that’s funny. Who would Charlie Brown be then? All of Cleveland? LOL
There’s a Snoopy Come Home movie, so we know who snoopy is..