NBA Update: Cleveland Cavaliers get a second shot at the championship glory
What is the one common factor in the most successful NBA teams - Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs - during the last ten years?
These teams had at least one quality NBA star who was drafted and developed at the franchise and that star proved to be the key in leading their NBA World Championship charge. Spurs had Time Duncan, the C’s had Paul Pierce and
Lakers had Kobe Bryant.
This is a fact that cannot be understated. Loyalty helps identify the team with its fans and it brings out the kind of effort required to succeed in NBA today. Bryant, Duncan and Pierce were the driving forces behind their respective
franchises’ title winning seasons.
The Cleveland Cavaliers had that x-factor too with a certain mister LeBron James. Drafted as the 1st overall pick, James was hailed as the saviour of the town. The self styled “King James” was supposed to lead the Cavaliers
to NBA title glory year after year.
The “Chosen One” did not disappoint in terms of the calibre of his play. With Cleveland, he blossomed into the best player of his generation. He also led the franchise to the most successful period in their history including a
trip to the NBA Finals in 2007. They were however beaten by a superior San Antonio Spurs side.
So the team was rebuilt, again around LeBron James. Players were traded in and seemingly sufficient talent was placed around James to help him achieve the Holy Grail of professional basketball. However the weakness in mental strength
of the team, and its leader, coupled with the demonic Boston Celtics crushed that dream.
In his despair, LeBron turned into a spoiled, arrogant and whining shell of himself towards the end of that fateful series against Boston in 2010. In their despair, the Cleveland fans turned on him. Both parties did not take each
other’s actions well and what followed was one of the most drawn out and bad tasting divorce in recent sports history.
The whole city seemed crushed at his defection and angry at their fate. In his time, Cleveland had really come to identify itself with the Cavaliers and after an unprecedented period of success, title-less sure, but still the best
in the city’s history, they couldn’t swallow the pill of mediocrity that followed.
But now, fate has the Cavs another chance to achieve their lost dream. Through a combination of the aligning of their own stars and the reckless trading by the Los Angeles Clippers, the Cavaliers have landed the first pick in the
2011 NBA Draft.
They also have the fourth, giving them two inside the top four. Cleveland, quite literally, couldn’t have asked for more. The side they currently possess is more deflated, after the loss of LeBron James, than talentless.
Now, they have a chance to add one or maybe two future superstars to their roster. By trading around them, they can build another solid side and go on the journey once again. A journey the city has aspired to, since LeBron James
was drafted among all that fan fare years ago, the journey to the summit of the NBA.
The heavens have opened up once again on the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they better make the most of it this time.
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