25 years felt like eternity not only for The Land, but the entire state of Ohio.
Last month, the Cleveland Cavaliers finally passed through the towering hump without their franchise hero. In courtesy of their 108-91 demolition against the Houston Rockets, the Cavs have officially crossed a new era that is highlighted by new beginnings and promising futures (Writer’s note: Want to try and start betting? Click this DraftKings Ohio Promo Code to learn more).
The victory against the Rockets trampolined Cleveland to take a new, different position of contending chapter without LeBron James. For context, though the Cavaliers were just five seasons away from their last postseason appearance, their sealing of a 2023 playoff spot meant them a priceless achievement – walking through the championship arena without their hometown kid from Akron in the lineup for the first time since 1997-98 season.
We can’t blame Cleveland for taking a backseat with James taking the driver’s spot. The man was simply the definition of basketball – an all-time icon who bravely carried a heavy burden of expectations since teenager, a generational talent who is considerably the most complete player given the mixture of power, athletic gifts, scoring, playmaking and defensive mechanism in a six-foot-nine, 250-pounder body.
He embodied, and will always embody, greatness and grace from his ability to lift the floor and elevate his teammates’ game en route to being a well-oiled wrecking unit.
These have been the story of James for Cleveland throughout his career – from the time he was called up as the top overall pick of the 2003 Draft, and made a comeback to the team in 2014 and eventually fulfilled that golden promise of bringing the city’s first professional sports title for over a half century.
It has been a great ride. But like what it’s supposed to be, things need to come to an end.
Following glorious years of being at the apex of the Eastern Conference – with one NBA title in 2016 shining – James decided to take a new challenge in the west side by joining the Los Angeles Lakers. For the Cavaliers, it can only be a double-edged sword impaled at their front. Amid a great opportunity to make a story of their own without, of course, LeBron James, will they be able to pull it out and totally never look back from the contributions and reliance they did from the future hall of famer?
But apparently, they did.
Four seasons of massive roster reshuffling, stockpiling draft picks, overwhelming losses, disappointments, and shortcomings.
A pair of 19-win seasons, extensive appearances in the draft lottery, accusations of mismanagement and incidents of team in-fighting.
A 2021-22 season that could have been their most awaited year, but was swamped by major injuries and went on to be eliminated in the play-in tournament.
It all paved the way for this season.
The Cavaliers rose to ashes with an authentic identity heading to the 2022-2023 season. President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman started from scratch upon James’ departure, and didn’t lose that optimism and perseverance to gradually present a promising stage of Cavs basketball – which won’t be overshadowed and overwhelmed anymore by the gigantic figure of James.
With one-time All-Stars Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, talented sophomore big Evan Mobley already in the picture of their promising core, the Cavs pulled the trigger to complete their grand plan by acquiring Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell, a four-time All-Star, is a former Jazzman cornerstone from Utah who embraced the challenge of ushering his Cavaliers troop back to the playoffs – back to relevance without the presence of LeBron James.
Averaging a career-best 28.3 points and 48.4 percent shooting, Mitchell assumed the bold responsibility of supplying his Cavs team a primary scoring punch and a significant performance in crucial moments. Garland, his backcourt mate, has been great as a floor general and secondary scorer option with his crafty and explosive demeanor. Meanwhile, Mobley has been a real revelation, elevating numbers from his rookie year and is dropping 16.4 points and 9 boards per 75 games.
With Jarrett Allen and some other defensive cogs in Isaac Okoro and Lamar Stevens, they are anchoring the Cavs to the league’s highest defensive rating (110.6) while allowing the lowest points average by opponents (106.9). The likes of Caris LeVert, Ricky Rubio and Cedi Osman are also huge supporting casts to back up the franchise’s brilliance at the front.
Behind the mentorship of J.B. Bickerstaff, the Cavaliers have poised themselves to make an entrance for the playoffs in mid-April. It has been a long time coming for the franchise who depended heavily on the finesse and mastery of a sports legend in LeBron James, and was haunted by the ghost of the past due to their previous years of mediocrity.
The road back to prominence was indeed filled with hardships, obstacles and questions of uncertainty. And now that they are here, the Cavaliers have to figure out what’s next for them.
Entering their much anticipated first-round war on Saturday against the New York Knicks, Cleveland etched the fourth-best record of the Conference throughout the season with a 51-31 record.
A postseason seat was already in the books, but they are the only ones capable of determining their next goals ahead as newest contenders – a legacy they want to cement in the organization’s history in the post-LeBron James generation.
“All the hard work that people in this organization have put in to help get us here should be acknowledged,” Bickerstaff said after their playoff clinching. “This is top down. This is something that has been done as a collective.
“We told the guys to enjoy this, but we ain’t done yet.”
