Cleveland, Ohio; the mistake by the lake as some have called it. Their sports franchises suffer from more than just the unyielding cold. Despite the best efforts of the Indians, Browns and Cavaliers combined, the city has now gone 60 years without a championship. Cleveland is easily considered among the most tormented of sports cities whether it be John Elway, Michael Jordan, Art Modell, or Edgar Renteria driving the stake through their hearts.
This current Cavaliers team has dazzled their home crowd all but once this season. On the wings of LeBron James, the Cavs have incredible opportunity and yet so small a window. While LeBron remains in the prime of his career, his contract ends in 2010, at which point many believe him to be defecting to the Big Apple. The quiet murmurs on this rumor have grown to deafening decibels over the past few years now.
With that said, Cleveland is sitting pretty atop the NBA's perch. They currently hold the best record in the league and are 4½ games ahead of Boston for the No. 1 spot in the East. With their 30-1 record at home, the importance of the top seed throughout the playoffs cannot be understated, especially against the Celtics, who only won last year by taking all four games in Boston.
For the defending champs, those 4½ games may be too much to ask with only 15 games remaining. With the injured Kevin Garnett set to come back for Friday against the Spurs, that still leaves Rajon Rondo and Leon Powe battling injuries, as well. Just a night ago, a disgruntled Doc Rivers let his frustrations towards the refs get to him in a loss at Chicago. Rivers was ejected and used his postgame face time to rip the official who tossed him. This begs the question: is the coach losing sight of the goal here?
Two seasons ago when the Cavaliers made the NBA Finals, they were a Little Team That Could, overwhelming the mighty Detroit Pistons thanks to LeBron doing it all by himself in Game 5. No one gave them any chance against San Antonio, and rightfully so. 2009 will be a different story. Cleveland may very well come into the playoffs as the dominant team. Perhaps they are not a favorite to beat the Celtics or the Lakers, but not a considerable underdog either. With first year Cavalier Mo Williams as LeBron's new trusty sidekick, this may be Cleveland's best shot at a title in many years.
While the Celtics demonstrated that a true determined team effort can overcome any opponent in 2008, the Cavaliers may have their greatest test come from out west. So long as the Cavaliers keep their No. 1 seed, they will have a great chance at holding off the Celtics with four of the seven games being held in Cleveland. The Lakers are not only much closer to the Cavaliers in the standings for NBA Finals home court (just a half game), but they may well be hungrier, as Kobe's crew has made it clear in 2009 that there would be no letting up off the throttle after Boston did exactly that to them in the '08 Finals.
Los Angeles has won a series of statement games including both games against the Celtics and Cavaliers, meaning they own the rights to Cleveland's only home loss.
While Celtics/Lakers may still be the best possible Finals matchup, a Cavs/Lakers series would be an awfully close second. In Kobe and LeBron, you would have the two main MVP candidates and most spectacular, most driven individual players in the game going head-to-head for seven games.
It was beginning to appear that Boston and L.A. were reclaiming their respective thrones as the two league superpowers, yet Cleveland has made it clear this will have to be a three-party system, at least while James remains a Cavalier.
For Cleveland sports fans, has there ever been an athlete that has so clearly had the abilities needed to singlehandedly bring home a title quite like LeBron James? Bernie Kosar was considered a very good, not great, quarterback in the '80s, while Kenny Lofton or Albert Belle could only account for so much in the Indians' lineup. Perhaps Browns running back Ernest Byner came the closest to doing just that, and I'm afraid most of you know how that ended.
Being the most talented all-around athlete in the NBA, LeBron James has always carried the burdens of great hopes on his shoulders. This is no different. A city starved for a title is counting on you. Make them all witnesses to an euphoric trophy presentation in June 2009.
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