Forgive me, as I'm not one to let facts get in the way of a good story. But this tall tale of such an "improbable win" deserves some fact checking.
Let's start with the role of Goliath, being played by the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors and their heart and soul, this season's unanimous NBA regular season MVP Steph Curry. While the Warriors did beat Cleveland for the 2015 title, even casual fans know that Cavalier team bore little resemblance to this year's. Two key elements, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, missed most if not all of the series. The bench underwent a necessary facelift. And perhaps most notable of all, there's a new coach calling the shots--or as many shots as Lebron James allows him to call.
For that matter, Golden State didn't play like the team we had seen all season either. It was Curry's backcourt mate Andre Iguadala who shined brighter and garnered Finals MVP honors. Bottom line: while we all know Cleveland wasn't as good as they could have been, we still may have perceived Golden State as a far better team than they may have been.
Really? Yeah really. With the Warriors' loss to the Cavs, we now have a situation where the team with the most-ever regular-season wins in each of the four major sports failed to win a title. We all remember the 16-0 New England Patriots of 2007, whose perfect season was dashed by the helmet-catching New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The NHL record of 62 wins was set by Scotty Bowman's 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings, who were beaten (in more ways than one) in the conference finals by eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado. And the teams with the most wins in a major league baseball season? The 1906 Chicago Cubs and 2001 Seattle Mariners each won 116 games, yet neither could bring home a World Series title. The Cubs were taken out in six games by the cross-town rival White Sox, while the Ms fell to the Yankees in five. So much for implied greatness.
That helps put things in perspective regarding the team no one thought could be beaten. Now what about this David? The team from "Believeland", the one we've been led to believe "defied all odds" by coming back from a three-games-to-one deficit to win the NBA championship? Oh, they defied the odds all right. But it has nothing to do with what they did on the court.
I fashion myself as a rational thinker. I examine the available evidence, then I let common sense take over, as I suspect any critically thinking individual would do. With that in mind, let's examine how the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers were built.
It started in 2003 when the Cavs overcame 4-to-1 odds to win the NBA Draft lottery. And with it the chance to select hometown boy Lebron James with the #1 pick. Nothing all too unusual as an isolated incident. After all, this was essentially the same system that enabled the team from the NBA's #1 market, the New York Knicks, to defy 1-in-66 odds two decades ago and win the right to draft the top player of that generation, Patrick Ewing.
As King James grew, so did his team, eventually dethroning the Eastern Conference powerhouse Detroit Pistons and reaching the 2007 NBA Finals. But that would be the limits of Lebron In Ctown 1.0. The Cavs were swept by San Antonio, rather easily even as four-game sweeps go. In the years that followed, #23 couldn't elevate his teammates and, after butting heads with senior management, became convinced that the skill set around him would not be improving.
Faced with a future of inconsequential playoff berths, The King chose to leave town. He jumped to Miami, joining a talented Heat squad already on the brink of an Eastern Conference championship. He proceeded to reach the NBA Finals in each of his four years in South Beach, winning two World Championships.
So what happened to Cleveland, the city who lost this generation's best player without any compensation? After the last #23 jersey was set ablaze in rage-filled protest, the team braced for a bleak future with little hope for success. What they didn't know, however, was how sorry "someone" felt for their predicamant. (I'm putting "someone" in quotes so you can interpret it to mean either a higher authority in heaven or in the NBA league office.)
That "someone" followed the Cavs through the painfully awful 19-63 season that followed. It just wasn't fair, that "someone" thought. So the following June, as if by magic, Cleveland won the NBA Draft lottery with a pick they obtained from the Los Angeles Clippers the previous February--a pick with odds of less than 3%. With the gift of a #1 draft selection, the Cavs chose Duke guard Kyrie Irving.
Despite Irving winning Rookie of the Year honors, Cleveland won just two more games the following year, and three more the year after that. Just not good enough, as far as "someone" was concerned. So, as if by even more magic, the Cavs won the NBA Draft lottery again, with odds of winning at a mere 15%. Then, miracle of all miracles, Cleveland was blessed with a second straight NBA Draft lottery win after the following season, with less than 50-to-1 odds.
All told, in the four years since Lebron ran off to Miami, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Draft lottery an astonishing three times. The chances of this happening are just over in in 1,000. Or to be exact, 14 in 10,000. In other words, infinitesimal. For perspective, the odds of being born with 11 fingers or toes is 1 in 500.
Then, the message from King James that he was now conveniently "coming home". No team has ever won the NBA lottery four times. And now a team had four of their #1 overall picks on the same roster. What Lebron couldn't accomplish for the Cavs in his presence, "someone" accomplished for him in his absence. How absurd was the team's excess? So much so that they could package two of their lottery winners in a deal for Minnesota's Kevin Love, considered by most to be one of the NBA's top 10 players. No trade in league history had ever involved two #1 overall draft picks being dealt by the same team.
Whoever that "someone" was that loaded the Cavs with four years of the best talent luck can buy, had just serendipitously built a juggernaut. Suddenly any feelings of sympathy for The Little City That Could went up in a cloud of center-court talc. Talk of winning a title went from pure pie-eyed speculation to rock-solid certainty. Players everywhere were offering their services as role players on the new Dream Team, giving up double-digit minutes for the chance to sit on the bench and win a ring.
An added benefit was a complete lack of competition. For two straight regular seasons, the Cavs had the privilege of playing in arguably the weakest conference in the history of major pro sports. The 2016 version was even weaker than the year before. All that separated Cleveland from a best-of-seven series for the NBA World Championship were the Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Braves and Toronto Raptors. As toothless as that gauntlet may sound, their game was even weaker. So 12 exhibition walk-throughs later, the tickets were printed for the Cavs' second straight NBA Finals appearance.
Four games in, Believeland wasn't. After four blowouts, Warriors had built a 3-games-to-1 lead and were heading home for what they felt was the close-out game. Draymond Green had stood up to Lebron, rendering his contributions merely human and forcing him to grow his stat line during garbage time, after the outcome had been determined. Green was a force, pushing the boundaries of hard play, and had been investigated for various acts of aggression throughout the playoffs. In Game 4 he took a hard hit from Lebron and was knocked down. The King wasn't finished displaying his anger, as he stepped over Green as the former Michigan State standout tried to get to his feet. Green swung back while still on the floor, making contact with His Majesty's baggy trousers but nothing else. Lebron took issue, not with the swing which he likely didn't feel but with being called the B-word, and the two were ultimately separated by officials.
That was all #23 needed. In the post-game conference James called Green out directly, a move that surprised many former players. He said the league had to decide whether what Greed did warranted suspension from Game 5--a move that on the surface is purely factual (of course it's up to the league). But it's one of those things where bringing it up calls attention to it, forces a decision and lets the world know where he stands on the issue. The NBA responded by tossing Draymond from the critical game. A move that caused Reggie Miller to tweet what many others were thinking: "Would bet my right arm if this series was even at 2-2 Draymond Green wouldn't be suspended for GM5." Questionable timing indeed, with so much to be gained by extending the series.
As expected, the Cavs were able to exploit his absence fully in their victory as James and Irving both hit for 40-plus points. A blowout home win back at Quicken Loans Arena in Game 6 set up the all-or-nothing deciding seventh game, and the victory parade in downtown Cleveland that followed.
A great come-from-behind championship to be sure. The Greatest Story Ever Told? That's going a bit too far. An all-star team loaded with top draft picks winning a title isn't a big surprise. That's where the Cleveland angle comes in. And the last bit of the story needs to be set straight.
Cleveland has had much heartbreak lo these last 52 years. Browns quarterback Brian Sipe throwing a needless interception into the end zone in the final seconds of the 1980 AFC playoff game they were in position to win with a field goal. John Elway's drive in 1986. Ernest Byner's fumble in 1987. The near misses in two World Series in the 1990s. But there's a big difference in being snakebit, and being unfortunate.
Cleveland sports teams were not cursed. They were just bad.
Now, the city is basking in their first championship in over half a century. The odds they overcame in beating Golden State were even money compared to the odds of them landing the right pieces to a championship team.
