State of the Cavaliers Rebuild
June 17, 20212021 NFL Draft Browns Film Room Series: RB Demetric Felton
June 21, 2021Back in early May of this year, for the first time in my life, I walked into Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers play. This is one of the downsides of growing up a fan of Cleveland sports in North Carolina. Going in, I knew it wouldn’t exactly be the kind of arena atmosphere that broadcasters, players, and coaches would wax poetic about – after all, the Cavs were in the final week of yet another lost season and COVID-19 protocols were still only allowing 4,000 or so socially-distanced fans through the gates.
But even knowing all of that, I went anyway, because if nothing more, I would get to see what is arguably one of the most valuable objects anywhere in downtown Cleveland: The Larry O’Brien Trophy.
This coming Saturday will mark the five-year anniversary of the single greatest event in Cleveland sports history.1 In some respects, it’s hard to believe it’s already been that long, but in others, it feels like it was a lifetime ago. The way in which it still feels fresh is in all the intangible ways the victory over the Warriors in that series has left a mark on all Cavs fans that watched the game. The vivid memories that all of us hold on to from the closing seconds of Game 7, and the immediate aftermath, will never fade.
Kyrie’s shot, LeBron’s block (and near-utter annihilation of Draymond Green’s soul), Kevin Love somehow staying in front of Steph, Mike Breen’s call – both “OH, BLOCKED BY JAMES!” and “Cleveland is a city of champions, once again!” – and all of the post-game sound bites are forever ingrained into the minds of Cavs fans. Those calls, along with LeBron’s famous quote, became ringtones. The pictures became phone backgrounds, computer wallpapers, and framed artwork in homes. I remember a few tattoo parlors in Cleveland even offering free tattoos.
The parade, as much of a joyous mass of uncontrollable humanity as it was, is something I wish I could have been a part of and is as much a part of the lore of that two-week period as the games themselves. (I mean, 1.3 million people? Who knows?)
However, while all those memories are great, the thing I bet most people will remember from that night, even more, will be the people they celebrated with.
For me, I was with my dad in a bar that he built from scratch out of an unused garage at my old house on Lake Norman in North Carolina. It was mid-June in an un-air-conditioned garage in the south, so it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but that’s where we watched all the games, so temperature and humidity didn’t matter.
When the final buzzer sounded, I crouched down and started to cry. I think my dad was screaming, but I don’t quite remember that brief moment.2 After I stood back up and hugged my dad, I grabbed the closest bottle of water and doused him. Then I grabbed the next closest and did it again. We stayed in that garage watching postgame content for a long time that night. It was a night I never wanted to end and I could tell he felt the same way.
Judging by the videos that surfaced on Twitter in the immediate aftermath from the arena, both inside and outside, it would seem like most everyone invested in the game had a similar moment of unbridled happiness.
If you’ve made it this far, first off, thank you for reading, but second, what do you remember most about those moments?
As a more personal example, I came to find out that the dog I adopted later that summer, a Doberman named Gunnar, was born on June 19, 2016. So, despite my critical failure in not thinking to name him something Cavs or championship-related, I have yet another thing to appreciate that day for.
But time passes and things change. The Cavs are no different. The last vestige of that championship roster is an oft-injured Kevin Love. Much like the last time LeBron James left the Cavs, the roster hasn’t exactly been competitive for the last three seasons.
Watching the franchise struggle through another rebuild is a striking reminder of how long ago those runs to the Finals were, even if they were just a few years ago. They’ve won just 60 games in the last three seasons combined, just 10 more wins than they had in LeBron’s final season in Cleveland in 2018.
So watching the Cavs’ young core play well, but ultimately lose that game to the Pacers on May 10 really illustrated how far they still have to go. I really do like some of the pieces they’re trying to build around in Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, Larry Nance Jr., and Isaac Okoro, but rebuilds can take time if you don’t strike it rich in the draft lottery.
But no matter how hard it can be to watch your favorite basketball struggle through rebuilding years, at least Cavs fans around the world can go to their closet and pull out a shirt or hat that says ‘2016 NBA Champions’ or make their semi-regular pilgrimage back to the video of the final 3:39 of Game 7 on Youtube to regain a small taste of that day.
Because, whether five years later or 50 years later, it’s not going anywhere and Cleveland is still a city of champions.