Case Study: The Cleveland Cavaliers

The Miami Heat was struck by different unlucky news this offseason. After being left out by LeBron James two years ago, it is the turn of Dwayne Wade to leave the city that many thought would be his last team before he retires. After the Wade departure it was Chris Bosh turn to receive a bad news. Bosh was not cleared by doctors to play because of his health condition.

The next four years, LeBron helped the Cavs improve. In the 2006-2007 year, the Cavs beat the Detroit Pistons in the semi-finals but lost in the finals against San-Antonio Spurs. During the years 2007-2008, the Cavs failed to make it to the playoffs. The following year, 2008-2009, they acquired point guard Mo Williams and Shaquille O’Neal. They lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Boston Celtics. In 2010, his contract was over with the Cavaliers. He decided to go to the Miami Heat and made two more lifelong friends, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. That season, in the playoffs, they beat the Philadelphia 76ers, the Boston Celtics, and the Chicago Bulls but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the championship. The next season, in 2011, the Heat beat the New York Knicks, the Indiana Pacers, and the Boston Celtics. In the championship game, the Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 2012, they beat the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals. When his contract expired in 2013, he decided to go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers where everything

Just having LeBron James – the biggest name and superstar in the NBA – come back to Cleveland after leaving for Miami four years ago was a big boost, not just emotionally but also economically for the city. But the deeper the Cavs’ run in the postseason went, the better

Like I mentioned earlier they have 2 rings in another league, and 3 in the NBA. They have appeared in the NBA finals 6 times. The team has 9 conference finals, 7 division championships, and 21 playoff appearances. There best season occurred in 2015-16 going 73-9, and there worst being in 2000-01, going 17-65. In the 06-07 season, the Warriors team none as "We Believe" made a huge mark in history, coming in as the 8th seed in the playoffs, they beat the 1st seeded Mavericks in the first round. This was a huge accomplishment, seeing that the warriors hadn't made the playoffs in a very long time. They ended up losing in the second round to the Jazz, but they we're still noticed as a team that believed. Along with team success, they also have had individual success. GSW has 17 Hall of Famers. They have won coach of the year 3 times, Most Improved 2 times, R.O.Y 4 times, D.P.O.Y once, and MVP 2 times. (Both were Stephen Curry, 2 years in a row.) When winning the finals, their MVP's were Rick Barry in 75', Andre Igoudala in 15', and Kevin Durant in 17'. But to have great success, you need good staff and

Lebron James, the number one player in the world, was quite busy posting pictures on his social media of his vacation in the weeks after their loss in the NBA finals to the Golden State Warriors. One would never know that there were frustrations and turmoil brewing back at home within the franchise of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Today, when watching the coverage on ESPN, it seems the foundation of the franchise is getting ready to be dismantled. The reports seem to suggest that Kyrie Irving is at the point of his career in which he no longer wants to be known as the number two man on the Cleveland Cavaliers and that he has demanded a trade.

The 2016 Cleveland Indians were different. We had one of the greatest managers in baseball history sitting in our dugout. We had an outstanding group of young sluggers in Jason Kipnis, Frankie Lindor, and Carlos Santana. We had unquestionably the best bullpen in baseball, fronted by Christ-like Andrew Miller and the stoic-yet-superb Cody Allen, who nearly resurrected the Indians to baseball greatness.

When the team was established in the late 80s, the fans reached a new height in pride for their team. But when the team owner moved the Hornets to New Orleans and the Bobcats came into town, many can tell you all hell was broken loose. The Bobcats made it to the playoffs once, and they were swept out by Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Over their tenure, they only had one all-star who was slowly on the decline. Most Charlotte fans today don’t remember the days of Raymond Felton and Gerald Wallace, who were arguably the best players the Bobcats ever had. Charlotte hasn’t had a go-to star like Dwayne Wade in Miami, or LeBron James in Cleveland; both of which have been

In the NBA, it’s no new news that the Cleveland Cavaliers star, Lebron James, and the players in the history of the Boston Celtics organization are big longtime rivals. This rivalry goes as far back as 2007. In 2007 a major shift in NBA History happened when star Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers to go join stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat. This happened because star Lebron James felt as if the Cavaliers GM was not helping the team enough, as they could not get past the Boston Celtics in the playoffs. As Lebron went to Miami he was able to win two back to back championships in the four years he was there. This made things worse for the Boston Celtics. Not only were they losing every year to the same team, their team

Going into the season we would not be surprised to see Cleveland against Boston. However, as the playoffs were set to start we thought that there was a very small chance that both the Celtics and the Cavaliers would face off in a rematch of last years Eastern Conference Finals. That thought was strengthened after the Cavaliers struggled into game 7 against the Pacers. Despite this so-called diversity that these two teams have had to experience, here we are with LeBron trying to extend his consecutive NBA Finals appearances to 8, and the Celtics to defy all odds once again and advance to the finals without there star player Irving.

In the 2017 season the, Cleveland had shown off this exceptionality by hitting 27 more home runs and 14 more base hits than they had in 2016 (ESPN, 2017).

This has blossomed into a great rivalry and one that both organizations should be proud of. I am favoring the Warriors currently in this matchup. Last year, they just simply had too much firepower for the Cavaliers, even with Kyrie Irving. However, I?ve learned to NEVER count LeBron James out of the equation. If the Cavaliers happen to lose this year, I do not believe we will see James returning next season in a Cleveland jersey. If he ends up going to the 76ers, I am incredibly interested in how they are going to make that work. Maybe James will work more on his spot-up shooting? They have two ball dominant forwards who are not spectacular shooters. Simmons would most likely play point guard, but still lacks the necessary jumper to be able to space the floor. For the most part, Embiid also needs the ball in his hands quite often to be efficient. It would also be interesting to see the long-term effects this may have on their talent off the bench. They may give up some playing time, but they would also have the mentorship of one of the greatest players of all-time on their

National Basketball Association Eastern Conference leader Cleveland Cavaliers demolished the Western’s Pacific Division third-ranked Sacramento Kings to a 120-100 victory Monday night.

The Trailblazers are coming off of a season in which they immensely exceeded expectations, so much so, this year the Trailblazers are a darling dark horse team among many experts (including my-self).

When the team entered the 2nd game of the NBA Finals we were down two All-Stars, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. When we lost them we were losing a double-double machine and arguably the best point guard in the league. After surveying people with good knowledge of sports, 58% believed that the Cavaliers will win this year’s championship. Like one said, “ the Cavaliers will win because they will have all of their players back.” Then when asking another member of the survey he said, ” they will win because they have Kyrie Irving back”. It’s going to make a big difference for the team, but the going to need other players to help off the bench to give the starters a

Irving and Love were crucial in carrying the scoring load in Cleveland’s two victories but were contained by the Raptors’ defenders. LeBron James still led Cleveland with 24 points with J.R. Smith added 22 points.