RETURN OF THE KING

RETURN OF THE KING

Lebron James' Return to Cleveland

A Fans Perspective

By Kyle Jones

Dear Cleveland Sports fans,

Please take a moment to read through a small story I have prepared as a pure sports fan.  I will deliver stats and records because you can find that elsewhere.  This is simply my personal view of an athlete who many of us have come to admire.  Enjoy.

Cleveland, the Mistake by the Lake as we have been so reluctantly named.  The name truly does fit, bad weather, crime, corruption and miserable ends to every single professional sports season since 1964.  Browse through the past of our city and see let down after let down and heartbreaks so bad that you feel you are reading a fiction story rather than looking at real life history.  The shot, the drive, the fumble, the sweep and many more that happened long before my lifetime.  I was raised as a Browns fan, an Indians fan and yes a Cavaliers fan.  While looking at our past and wondering what we did to deserve such despair and misery, one can ask did any of these hurt as much as the Decision.  That sad day when our King Lebron James abandoned his throne and headed to rule paradise in Miami.  Hell who could blame the man?  How many people who grow up in Northeastern Ohio do not think about leaving the weather behind and head for warmer weather and bigger parties?  That is correct folks, he did what most of wish we could do, ESCAPE!  What did we do? We cursed the man, we soiled his name and some people even burned his jersey and wished him the worst time ever on his new life.  His departure was so damaging to an already frail city that I personally wondered if we would break all together.  Who can forget the terrible performance he put on in the series losing game against Boston to end the 09-10 season, 9 turnovers and the image of him removing the Cavaliers jersey for what would be the final time.  Then he left, in a fashion unmatched by any other athlete in recent memory.  

After four long years of lottery draft picks and a playoff drought, something happened.  Something occurred on a day in the summer of 2014 when a letter emerged seemingly out of nowhere.  It was a letter delivered by Lebron James on his decision to return to Cleveland, his home.  On the day that the letter was posted by Sports Illustrated the fans of Cleveland quickly changed their views about our rightful King.  All had been forgiven and hope and optimism had returned to a championship starved city.  The sports world paused and covered the story as the top headline.  Many people outside of the loyal fans of Cleveland were upset or annoyed by the fact that he was on the move again.  This move however, seemed different, it was not about doing what was in his best interest as a player, it was what he wanted as a man.  A prideful man who loves his home and wanted nothing more than to return to the team that drafted him to provide joy and maybe even…dare we say it? A CHAMPIONSHIP.  

No true fan needs a rundown of what occurred this past year for the Cavs.  I will post only the headlines.  Return, trade for Kevin Love, Kyrie’s max extension, doubts about Blatt being the right man.  Then we saw the terrible start and here we go again, the Cavs are going to let us down.  There were a few trades to add some pieces to help change the culture, enter Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Timoffey Mozgov.  Most importantly, goodbye Dion Waiters (Thank you David Griffin).  What happens next was like magic.  The Cavaliers fresh off their makeover would go on to finish second in the Eastern Conference, but let’s be honest they felt like the best team in the East.  

Welcome back to the postseason Cleveland, we have arrived with optimism and a reason to once again believe.  Sweep the Celtics in a fashion the world expected.  Here was a bit of a roadblock coming out of this series, exit Kevin Love thanks to a severe shoulder injury.  The King is down one of his best sidekicks.  The Cavaliers would face the Bulls in the second round and get past them in 6 games.  Some buzzer beaters and the legacy grows.  The King has built an army that cannot lose.  Along come the Hawks, the Eastern Conference’s top seed and a team who looked poised to challenge the throne.  Yeah on second thought, they appeared to be little birds who were sent to prepare the King’s army for their final challenge, a date with the Warriors of Golden State.  

Here we are folks, a showdown with the NBA’s best team.  The King versus the young Prince.  Game one would prove to be the ultimate and nearly fatal blow.  Kyrie Irving fell to a terrible knee injury which would end his hobbled playoff run and leave Lebron down his last All-Star.  Game two and three were spectacles that fans could only sit back and enjoy.  Victories for the Cavaliers and a 2-1 series lead.  Lebron played out of his mind and got contributions from everyone who touched the floor.  This is it Cleveland, this is finally the year that our misery ends.  It has to be this year, I mean why not this year? Right?  NOT so fast, yes that is right we all witnessed a 3 game swing that would end the hope and the dreams.  The Cavs fell in three straight to lose the series.  It was all over and the celebration for the Warriors began.  Lebron James produced one of the single greatest performances in NBA Final’s history.  He led BOTH teams in scoring, rebounding and assists, a feat that had never been accomplished.  He truly left it all on the floor and gave his all for the city he wears on his chest and carries on his back.  

So there you have it Cleveland fans, another year gone and another reason to believe we may never taste a championship.  More of the same, more reason to doubt and feel bad about ourselves.  NOT SO FAST!!!  The future for the first time is bright.  Next year will actually come.  There is hope for ultimate victory and a team that we can all believe in again.  There is one man to thank for this hope, this belief and it is none other than Lebron James.  Not only because he returned home but because he showed the fans of this city that he will not quit on us again, he will leave his soul on the floor if it means a Ring to the Rock City.  So I plead with the fans to hold out hope and put your faith in our King, he has returned and he will not leave us again.  

Be easy on me folks, this is new to me, but this is something I believe in.  I love the city of Cleveland and the players who put it all on the line for our entertainment every night.  Thank you for reading and feel free to leave some comments or share with your friends.  

Sincerely,

A loyal and loving fan