The Curse is Broken!
June 19, 2016 9:59 PM   Subscribe

After 52 years without a major professional sports title*, the Cleveland Cavaliers have won the NBA championship.

In Game 7 of the NBA finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State (Oakland) Warriors 93-89. Previously, the Cavs were down 3-1, a hole no Finals team in NBA history had ever come back from. Led by Finals MVP Lebron James, the Cavs won 3 in a row against the Warriors to clinch the franchise's first title. James led both teams in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks throughout the finals, and was a unanimous selection for MVP.

Cleveland's sports miseries are well documented (previously), with three professional sports teams going 52 years without a title among them. Notable sports moments such as The Catch, Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Move, and Off Nagy's Glove all contributed to a regional misery for Cleveland. Lebron himself contributed to the lore of the Cleveland sports curse, when he left the Cavs in 2010 to win 2 titles in 4 years with the Miami Heat.

Golden State's storybook season (previously) came to an end in their home arena. After setting a new NBA record by going 73-9 in the regular season, the Warriors endured some early injury trouble to unanimous regular season MVP Steph Curry in the postseason. In their own 3-1 hole in the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors rallied back against the Oklahoma City Thunder to set up a rematch of last year's finals. The Warriors failed to score in the final 4:30 of the game.


Some Highlights from Game 7:

Kyrie Irving with the And-1
Kyrie Irving gets his own rebounds, scores the layup
Kyrie Irving's Dagger 3 to put Cleveland up for good
The final play of the game
Lebron James crying with happiness after the final whistle

The Cavaliers will have a championship parade on Wednesday, June 22. The NBA has been discussed on the NBA club on FanFare.


*Several non Big-4 teams have won a title in Cleveland, including the AHL Lake Erie Monsters, who won Cleveland's first Calder Cup since 1964 (another 52-year drought).
posted by miguelcervantes (147 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
Sigh. Can't say they didn't earn it.

But hey, at least the Bay Area doesn't have to host the RNC....
posted by suelac at 10:01 PM on June 19, 2016 [23 favorites]


the stat displayed during the game claimed that if you were born after 12/27/64 you never experienced a cleveland championship.

i account for all but 6 of those years of drought and i couldn't be happier.
posted by fingers_of_fire at 10:05 PM on June 19, 2016 [6 favorites]


On the downside, Chatty Cathy in HR is going to be even more insufferable tomorrow as he steers every conversation back around to this.
posted by hal9k at 10:19 PM on June 19, 2016 [1 favorite]


This was such an amazing game to watch.
posted by gucci mane at 10:20 PM on June 19, 2016 [9 favorites]


What exactly is the curse? Did they trade a major player to another team? Did they steal someone else's mascot? What brought on this curse?
posted by hippybear at 10:42 PM on June 19, 2016 [3 favorites]


I wonder if Steph Curry's injury was more significant than he or the team let on, he looked off for a lot of the last two series. But Kyrie Irving and LeBron James were at another level the past few games, though, just unstoppable.
posted by clorox at 10:46 PM on June 19, 2016 [1 favorite]


That. Block.
posted by rouftop at 10:51 PM on June 19, 2016 [30 favorites]


#allin216.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:23 PM on June 19, 2016 [2 favorites]


Mistake By The Lake!

As a fellow rust belter, I still miss the real Cleveland Browns.
posted by C.A.S. at 11:53 PM on June 19, 2016 [6 favorites]


That. Block.

Rewatching that, he's understood the opposing strategy 3/4 of the court back. That's video game level awesemoness.
posted by coolxcool=rad at 11:55 PM on June 19, 2016 [4 favorites]




That. Block.

The Block: An in-depth look at LeBron James's game-altering play - step by step.
posted by pracowity at 1:19 AM on June 20, 2016 [7 favorites]


As a combination native of Michigan, Bulls fan/Pistons fan,* loather of Lebron James, and vocal enjoyer of others misery, this is the worst possible outcome. I tremble at the thought of the post-Red Sox World Series win level of "they never believed in us" proclamations, followed by a blossoming of a Midwestern offshoot of Massholery just in time for the RNC (every single fucking speech will mention the Cavaliers).

If nothing else, we'll always have Browns fans, and the extreme unlikelihood of any other Cleveland franchise winning a championship before the heat death of the universe.

*growing up in Kalamazoo causes lingering issues
posted by Ghidorah at 2:34 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


hippybear: "What exactly is the curse? Did they trade a major player to another team? Did they steal someone else's mascot? What brought on this curse?"

Cleveland.
posted by chavenet at 2:46 AM on June 20, 2016 [22 favorites]


Ok folks, remember what we agreed. Now that he's won a title in Cleveland, no more "X is what's wrong with LeBron" hot takes ever.
posted by selfnoise at 2:58 AM on June 20, 2016 [4 favorites]


My Pitch Perfect 2 analogy didn't fail me.
posted by michaelh at 2:59 AM on June 20, 2016


Why do people hate lebron James?
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 3:16 AM on June 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


Cleveland.

A perfectly fine Clevelander I once knew electronically told me Cleveland was a good place to live.

Also, they misspelled the name of the town and stuck to it -- it was named after Moses Cleaveland but someone later screwed up -- and that has to count for something.
posted by pracowity at 3:18 AM on June 20, 2016


Why do people hate lebron James?

There's a long list of reasons, but one of the bigger reasons was The Decision, where he set up a prime time special to announce where he would sign as a free agent. It was incredibly ham handed, after a full season of every team out there pitching themselves as a great destination for a free agent, in several cases making trades and otherwise mortgaging the team's future for a shot at a generational talent.

What ended up happening is that he essentially had decided long, long in advance, along with a couple other incredibly talented players, to head to Miami, all the while stringing other teams along, including Cleveland, acting as if they had actual interest, when they had none. (Wade, in particular, strung Chicago along for several weeks/months)

It could also be that he's genetically freakish, possibly the perfect physical basketball player, incredibly strong, amazingly agile, and suspiciously injury free (the season that the NBA started testing for HGH coincided with a large number of players, James included, talking about how they were "choosing to slim down" to be more atheletic). All of that while, especially in his early years, he got away with absurd numbers of offensive fouls while complaining incessantly on any drive to the basket that fouls should be called. He whines for calls so aggressively even the Spurs would be embarrassed.

Strangely, the thing he might be remembered for is that his decision to play with friends pretty much broke the NBA. A lot of people were throwing out the "he doesn't have the competitive spirit" hot takes, saying Jordan, Barkley, Bird, et al would rather beat their friends than play with them. If you look at it from a labor situation, though, James decision to join the Heat was the first time the arguably best player in the league had turned down max money in exchange for, essentially, the right to dictate everything else about his job. Players are making so much money, along with a (gah, I don't want to say this) a vaguely millennial willingness to make less for a more enjoyable workplace that, in a lot of ways, owners have lost a lot of the power they previously had. In the long term, The Decision is probably going to go down as one of the biggest events in the history of the league.

In the short term, he's a petulant whiner who has always demanded everything be perfect, yet clearly coasts through games.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:41 AM on June 20, 2016 [15 favorites]


Do you watch basketball? Because the only way any that hot taek makes any sense at all is literally turned off the NBA after the decision and haven't watched a game since.

Let's not even get into logic of complaining about choosing to play with wade and bosh.
posted by JPD at 3:53 AM on June 20, 2016 [23 favorites]


Burn on big river! Burn on!
posted by drezdn at 3:56 AM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


I was rooting for the Cavs, but definitely think they wouldn't pull it off. Sadly, I think this moves Milwaukee up next on the list of sports futility (depending how much you consider the Packers a "Milwaukee" team).
posted by drezdn at 3:57 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Well it's not like they won the Stanley Cup but I'm sure this Basketball championship thing is nice too.
posted by octothorpe at 3:57 AM on June 20, 2016 [8 favorites]


Hockey fans. Adorable.
posted by JPD at 4:00 AM on June 20, 2016 [15 favorites]


This is now obsolete
posted by pxe2000 at 4:00 AM on June 20, 2016


I was trying to point out the one singular thing about James that I think is good, that by example, he's made it the norm for players to opt for shorter contracts to allow them more freedom of movement. One of the most likely outcomes of this summer is Durant taking a two year deal with a player option for the second year so that he can see if okc will finally put together a team, and allow him an out when the new tv deal kicks in. That's largely in following Lebron. I don't hate him for choosing to play with his friends, part of me admires him for it (the other part is pissed that he and Wade strung chicago along for as long as they did, which was likely a tactical decision). When asked why everyone hates James, that's more along the lines of older generations complaining about "the right way" or "that's not how Bird did it" ignoring how stacked Bird's teams were.

The utter tone deafness of the decision, though, especially after stringing Cleveland along for so long? That's a solid reason a lot of people disliked him in the past, and still do.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:04 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


Oh. "The Decision" was utterly cack-handed. That is absolutely true, but even LBJ acknowledges that these days.

I don't think that's a reason the hate him today. And I say that as a Knicks fan who had the "well Chicago just made sense for him"speech ready to go.
posted by JPD at 4:17 AM on June 20, 2016


and this is what happens when you officiate to extend the series...

Yeah, I'm a sore loser, but the league agenda (Draymond suspension, schoolyard brawl officiating, even GSW v OKC officiating was blatantly pro-GSW) is just too obvious. Wake up sheeple!!!!

LBJ is SO good, my friends who are real b-ball fans automatically like him b/c they recognize the massive talent. I detest him because his carefully manicured public persona makes him un-relatable to me and I like to root for scrappy underdogs. It's so much more fun to watch some small dude rain 3s from 10 feet behind the arc.

Someone once said that the best NBA coaches are the ones who were mid-level players, vs superstars, because the scrappy guys had to rely on tricks to survive in the league, and this savvy can be taught. I think that this is a component of team leadership as well - kind of ironic, but even as LBJ is the closest thing to a player-coach in the league, I think his persona and style of play is limited precisely because he's such a good player - what can someone who has these gifts teach others, who have to rely on craftiness, dirty play, or a singular team role to survive in their professional world?
posted by The Ted at 4:33 AM on June 20, 2016


Maybe now Clevelanders (or, more accurately, ex-Clevelanders, since none of them bother to live within 150 miles of the city that's supposedly so great) will stop whining so much.
posted by kevinbelt at 4:36 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


None of whom, exactly? Pretty sure the 300-mile-radius circle you're describing has a few actual people in it, most of whom are Cavs fans. Hi!
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 4:42 AM on June 20, 2016 [11 favorites]


Why do people hate lebron James?

LeBron James was promoted as the "Next Big Thing" in basketball since he was 15 years old. When he was 17 they called him "The King" and all of the prognosticators said that he would be the best basketball player of his generation.

And, well, everything they said was true. He is that good. Nobody in the history of basketball has been so hyped from such an early age, and nobody has lived up to those expectations as much as LeBron James. When does that ever happen?
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 4:53 AM on June 20, 2016 [28 favorites]


Why do people hate lebron James?

Wedgie by proxy.

Lebron represents every overwhelmingly physically gifted person the ungifted have ever encountered and been in some way defeated by.

He doesn't actually achieve victory - he just realizes what is expected. It may be an incredible burden for him internally but it is also annoying as a plot.
posted by srboisvert at 5:03 AM on June 20, 2016 [4 favorites]


He was also really funny in Trainwreck.
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:10 AM on June 20, 2016 [14 favorites]


I feel bad for people whose "ewwww sportsball" aversion to sports cost them the chance to watch this game. It was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen on television.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:24 AM on June 20, 2016 [21 favorites]


My favourite moment was when King James stood before Bolton's calvary in defiance and then a few minutes later when he chopped off the one wildling's head....wait....

Hmm....I may be in the wrong thread. Wrong 'King of the North'. My apologies.
posted by Fizz at 5:28 AM on June 20, 2016 [9 favorites]


And, well, everything they said was true. He is that good. Nobody in the history of basketball has been so hyped from such an early age, and nobody has lived up to those expectations as much as LeBron James. When does that ever happen?

I was really looking forward to being smug when he flamed out and then he won three titles and eleven thousand MVP awards and is a player-coach and he even made up for leaving his hometown team in free agency by coming back still in his prime and leading them to a curse-breaking title! Who does that?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:45 AM on June 20, 2016 [20 favorites]


There is one way where Lebron (and yes, I've made it clear I'm not a fan) has clearly and completely outshone Jordan: he has a voice, he has beliefs, and he is willing to speak out. Where Jordan said "Republicans buy sneakers too," James has taken the court wearing an "I Can't Breathe" shirt. He and the Heat did the hoodie photo for Trayvon Martin. No, it's not Ali refusing the draft, but it's something, and again, he's been the leader of a sort of sea change. And again, part of that goes to the shift towards the power the players have begun to realize they have. Where a couple decades ago, an owner or a GM might have tried to pressure, or at least suggest a star not make waves (pointing to, say, Mahmoud Abdul Raouf as an example of what happens when someone speaks up), there is no owner in the league that would dare try to suggest top stars not speak their mind. Had there not been a very real threat that Clippers players might refuse to play in the playoffs, I doubt Sterling would have been deposed so quickly. At least a solid chunk of the players newfound voice is definitely due to Lebron, and that's definitely worth recognition.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:47 AM on June 20, 2016 [29 favorites]


Rust Belt: 2 No Cal: 0

Having grown up in Cleveland and moved to Pittsburgh a few years ago, this is all weirding me out a bit. Last week the Pens' endless motorcade rolled passed my bus stop where I was waiting to go to work, and mid-day a picture of my wife holding aloft an inflatable Stanley cup popped up on my phone. And now this. It's not natural.
posted by jon1270 at 5:47 AM on June 20, 2016 [6 favorites]






I only watched the last quarter, but it was some of the best basketball I've ever watched in my life. I nearly exclusively follow college ball, and this reminded me of that. Really, really entertaining. I also root against Cleveland in football, but it was nice to see them win one for a change.
posted by codacorolla at 6:03 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Though I am a recent and reluctant and please God not permanent Ohio transplant, I have been enjoying the narrative of this series quite a bit and the genuine glee of people in Columbus today is great. My bus driver asked if I watched the game, the woman who made me coffee was somehow already wearing a Cleveland Champions shirt.

Of course, the only NBA game i ever attended saw the Celtics destroy the Cavs, but I am excited for everyone else's excitement before the state implodes during the RNC. They were pushing to have the RNC in Columbus, and I think we probably would never recover had that actually come to pass.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:11 AM on June 20, 2016


What exactly is the curse? Did they trade a major player to another team?

Yep. Curse of Rocky Colavito. Not sure if it's thought of as applying to Cleveland teams generally.
posted by escabeche at 6:13 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


Sadly, I think this moves Milwaukee up next on the list of sports futility (depending how much you consider the Packers a "Milwaukee" team).

There are about 10 times as many Packers hats as Bucks hats in Milwaukee, in my experience, so yeah, I think the Packers count.
posted by escabeche at 6:17 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


It was just a fantastic game. Everything a game 7 should be. And Lebron was just magnificent. I just can't stop talking about that block. Lebron jumped 12 feet in the air and didn't foul Iguodala in the process.

He made so many plays, not only in this game, but in the previous couple.

Also, leading into game seven? Lebron was leading BOTH teams in everything. Leading both teams in points, leading both teams in rebounding, more assists than any player on both teams, most blocks than any player than both teams. More steals than any player on both teams!

To top that off, Lebron has been to the finals 6 straight years, which takes a mighty toll on your mind and body. So when he ran the length of the court and soared through the air to block that layup, it was yet another minute of the thousands and thousands of minutes he's played, far above and far beyond any other player in the 2010s.

You shouldn't need to be a fan of sports to appreciate greatness in a field. This is greatness.
posted by cashman at 6:20 AM on June 20, 2016 [26 favorites]


Not two not three not four not five not six not seven

HA HA JUST KIDDING congratulations to cleveland, the team, and Mister James
posted by bukvich at 6:41 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Why do people hate lebron James?

For me it was the ludicrous Miami Heat season opener-spectacle, WWF style-Event with fog machines and a light show from a few years back.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 6:42 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


If what you actually want out of sports is a soap opera with athletes you can judge with arbitrary and hypocritical criteria may I suggest professional wrestling?
posted by selfnoise at 6:46 AM on June 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


What exactly is the curse?


I'm pretty sure it's that hellmouth.


So this means it's either been closed for good, or it is about to open.

RNC 2016 to be held in Cleveland.

Well- there you go.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:49 AM on June 20, 2016 [9 favorites]


I feel bad for people whose "ewwww sportsball" aversion to sports cost them the chance to watch this game. It was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen on television.

I'm pretty sure the "ewww sportsball" people who tuned in would have watched for a while and thought something like "Oh, hey, two teams who are really good at putting that ball through that hoop are both working hard to put it through more times than the other team. Looks like people are really into it. Now back to my journals." They are dead somewhere deep inside, incapable of feeling the joy normal people get from athletic prowess.

Now, back to my journals.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:04 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


After the game, Kyrie Irving compared LeBron to Beethoven -- bringing to mind Northeast Ohio's other great natural resource: The Cleveland Orchestra. In music, as in basketball, Cleveland out "scores" them all.
posted by Modest House at 7:04 AM on June 20, 2016 [7 favorites]


2) America has a really, really difficult time accepting openly confident people living up to their hype who are not white men.

People hated Larry Bird, and currently hate Tom Brady. If you're literally the best player on the best team in your sport, people will resent you for not being on their home team. Unless you're Tim Duncan and everyone forgets you even exist until you show up to bring home yet another trophy, and then they forget about you again.

As soon as LeBron retires, the hate will be dissolve into awe and admiration once we no longer have to worry about him beating our favorite team like a little tin drum.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:16 AM on June 20, 2016 [11 favorites]


scrittore, Wade hasn't necessarily been given a free pass, but there is something to the fact that he's literally on his last legs. He took what the refs gave him (to the point that, if you go back and watch one of the Miami-Dallas finals games, the refs actually claimed that Dirk Nowitzki's nose fouled Wade's elbow), and made egregious calls a signature part of his game. That he got left high and dry when James left, leaving Wade several tens of millions short on what he thought the plan was, well, some people felt sorry for him.

As for Bosh, he's got a couple things going for him: he was always made out to be the third wheel in the Big 3. Carlos Boozer, if I remember correctly, made a point of saying that the Heat had two great players. When a guy who played an NBA with his head painted black to hide his baldness problem burns you that bad, well, ouch. There's also the fact that Bosh utterly changed his game to fit in in Miami. And there's the fact that, honestly, he might never play again due to his blood clotting issues, and people hate to see players cut down by injury/medical problems. I'd much rather he was healthy and making the East competitive.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:24 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


On LeBron, from an article otherwise mostly in praise of Curry:
The reality is that his success is as much a consequence of his legendary work ethic and shrewd decision-making as his unprecedented mix of skill, size, and agility. Nevertheless, he’s seen as a passive beneficiary of a genetic lottery, a once-in-a-generation physical specimen who merely had to lace up shoes to actualize his predestined dominance.
I don't follow basketball (though even I, occasionally checking the Guardian live text stream, could tell this was a ridiculously edge-of-your-seat exciting game), so the first time I heard LeBron's voice was in a Khan Academy video asking questions about probability.
posted by clawsoon at 7:25 AM on June 20, 2016


What exactly is the curse?

The curse has something to do with Art Modell--apparently a Cleveland property of his just transferred ownership so the curse was broken.
posted by waving at 7:28 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Why do people hate lebron James?

I live in Cleveland and I can tell you, people are absolutely in love with LeBron and have been since he came back. All was forgiven pretty quickly. He's an amazing man.
posted by waving at 7:29 AM on June 20, 2016 [8 favorites]


2) America has a really, really difficult time accepting openly confident people living up to their hype who are not white men.

People hated Larry Bird, and currently hate Tom Brady.


I'm old enough to remember Larry Bird playing, and people hated him when he beat their team. People hate LeBron who don't even follow basketball. And Tom Brady? Are you fucking kidding trying to say that Tom Brady is as hated as LeBron James? Tom Brady isn't as hated as LeBron James in the AFC East footprint alone, much less the rest of the country.
posted by Etrigan at 7:36 AM on June 20, 2016 [4 favorites]


I've never really hated LeBron James -- The Decision was certainly unpleasant, but no more so than many other things pro athletes have done, and it didn't actually hurt anybody. I hate that he represents Stephen A. Smith et al being right about something.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:44 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


Good for Ty Lue, too.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:44 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


This event and moment is more deserving than us going down the same well-traveled mefi paths we've been down before. There is so much to talk about far beyond other teams or people who aren't into sports.
posted by cashman at 7:45 AM on June 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


What exactly is the curse? Did they trade a major player to another team?

In terms of baseball, yes.
posted by jonmc at 7:48 AM on June 20, 2016


When LeBron left Cleveland a lot of people were pissed and resentful. I thought that if I were him I would do the same thing. Cleveland was lucky they got what they did and LeBron didn't owe Cleveland anything-he gave it his all and Cleveland didn't win a Championship because the management $ucked and didn't build a winning team. The folks who said nasty things about him made it clear to me that LeBron had every right to get out of Cleveland. He had the dream of winning a Championship for his hometown (Akron), no matter how shirty he was treated, and he came back! That is the definition of integrity.
posted by waving at 8:02 AM on June 20, 2016 [6 favorites]


Do that many people still really hate LeBron? Obviously people hated him after The Decision (understandably - nothing wrong with his leaving Cleveland, but he didn't have to rub peoples' faces in it like that), but my sense is that he was mostly forgiven after he admitted how ham-fisted the whole thing was and went back to Cleveland. I know some people still hate him, but he doesn't seem to universally hated.

And Tom Brady? Are you fucking kidding trying to say that Tom Brady is as hated as LeBron James? Tom Brady isn't as hated as LeBron James in the AFC East footprint alone, much less the rest of the country.

Anecdata, and I do not follow the NBA or the NFL all that closely, so maybe I'm missing something here, but: I have literally never encountered a single person who is not from New England that likes Tom Brady. I know there exist people not from Ohio and South Florida who like LeBron James.
posted by breakin' the law at 8:10 AM on June 20, 2016 [7 favorites]


I know some people still hate him, but he doesn't seem to universally hated.

He's not as hated as he was, but there's a lot of inertia in that sort of thing in sports.

I have literally never encountered a single person who is not from New England that likes Tom Brady.

Michigan still loves him, for one. And a lot of people don't like him but don't hate him. I've met fewer people who are "Meh" on James.
posted by Etrigan at 8:24 AM on June 20, 2016


Supporting evidence: I, a Philadelphia Eagles fan, rooted for Eli Manning and the Giants to win the Super Bowl twice because the alternative was Tom Brady.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:24 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Lebron James 2016 NBA Finals highlights from the official NBA account on YouTube.

Game 1 highlights begin the video. Game 1 pirouette.
Game 2 highlights start at 1:05. Out of my way, I have a dunk to do.
Game 3 highlights start at 2:14. Lebron steal, gets up and catches the alley oop. Slow-motion replay.
Game 4 highlights start at 4:59. Kyrie misses the layup - Lebron tip dunks it.
---------At this point, the Cavs are facing elimination and cannot lose any more games---------
Game 5 highlights start at 6:08. Jumper city for Lebron. And then a dunk to boot.
Game 6 highlights start at 7:46. Steph watches helplessly as Lebron soars, scores, and scores again. Lebron with the pocket pass. The absurd no look alley oop to Lebron from JR Smith. Curry tries to drive on Lebron, thinking he can sneak up a shot. Curry's layup is mercilessly swatted away, and Lebron lets him know all about it.
Game 7 highlights start at 12:28. As an appetizer, Curry misses the steal, and Lebron goes baseline. The entree is THE block.
posted by cashman at 8:29 AM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


Lets talk more basketball. On some of the dunks, Lebron tweaks a finger, so he adjusts his hand wraps. But on some shots and dunks, and on some missed shots, he does something else. Lebron has an "I promise" wristband he wears to remind himself of children in Akron.
"It's a visible reminder of the promise of help he made to Akron schools. Now that he's obviously on the biggest stage, it's also a symbol of his promise to be a good role model." Students in the program recite the "I Promise" motto, which includes just about everything tied to being a good student.
So he will make or miss a shot, and then he'll adjust that band, reminding himself of those kids, and being a positive role model. Lebron isn't anything close to perfect, but I love that he does it. I thought it was some kind of superstitious tic until I learned what it was about.
posted by cashman at 8:37 AM on June 20, 2016 [9 favorites]


He's not as hated as he was, but there's a lot of inertia in that sort of thing in sports.

True. There seems to be a substantial minority that still hates LeBron and always will, but I think most people have gotten over it. He did get a lot of "leadership-blah-blah-blah" BS when the Cavs didn't win it last season, but the best player on a team pretty much always catches blame for its failures (and that's pretty much always unfair).

Also, I agree that peoples' feelings on Brady are, in general, less intense, but I think they lean more heavily towards the negative.
posted by breakin' the law at 8:38 AM on June 20, 2016


People don't hate Tom Brady for being confident and self-assured, though. They hate him for being a pretty boy talented quarterback who is married to a model. They're right to do so; that's all loathsome. The thing that comes into play largely for black players is getting hated on for admitting that they're good. Cam Newton, who seems like a genuinely very nice and fairly humble guy, is hated in some quarters basically for seeming like he's having fun being a really good football player.

I'm not sure how much this plays into the LeBron hate, because The Decision is a weird outlier in the world of sports self-promotion, but I think some of it is there. He's good, he knows it, and we don't like that, especially out of black athletes. For my part, I like LeBron, because he drives Skip Bayless crazy, and anyone who can do that is on the side of the angels, at least a bit.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:45 AM on June 20, 2016 [6 favorites]


I hate that he represents Stephen A. Smith et al being right about something.
On the other hand, Skip is very very wrong. I guess that evens out, because if SAS talks out of his ass, Skip has a medical condition that somehow turned him into an ass.
posted by lmfsilva at 8:57 AM on June 20, 2016


2) America has a really, really difficult time accepting openly confident people living up to their hype who are not white men.

Oh please, give it a rest. Can we have just one moment that doesn't get turned into a race issue?

LeBron was disliked in Cleveland for leaving in the immature manner that he did. That sin has since been forgiven and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in this town, since his return, who would say something negative about him.
posted by tgrundke at 8:59 AM on June 20, 2016


Good for Ty Lue, too.

I'm really happy for him. As a player, Tyronn Lue was most known for having Allen Iverson hit a great shot and then step over him as he sat on the floor. When he got the head coaching position for the Cavs just 5 months ago, a lot of people looked at it as disrespect to the Cavs previous coach, and not many people expected Lue to lead the Cavs to a ring.

Somewhere around the middle of the season, Lebron was making all kinds of weird statements and seemingly feeling disillusioned with the Cavs. Lebron inexplicably wore a hat in a postgame interview that said "Miami Winners". Lebron talked about rejoining Wade, and playing with other people like Chris Paul. It was pretty weird.

Tyronn Lue talked to Lebron about it, and Lebron immediately straightened up. There was also word that sometime along the way Lue was calling a play or organizing something in practice and Lebron chimed in, and Lue told Lebron "shut the #@% up, I got this." Which is a huge thing to do when you could easily be bounced out of the franchise and the league the next day if that didn't come across right. But it did, and Lue and Lebron seem to respect each other, and you see what the end result was.
posted by cashman at 8:59 AM on June 20, 2016 [4 favorites]


Early reports indicate that this is the highest ABC/ESPN sports telecast in over a decade, pulling in an 18.9 overnight rating.
posted by miguelcervantes at 9:00 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


I know we've had a lot of Joe Posnanski lately, but he grew up in Cleveland, and his piece on the championship is fantastic (and he even sneaks in a Hamilton reference).
posted by gladly at 9:03 AM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


Tyronn Lue talked to Lebron about it, and Lebron immediately straightened up.

This was the problem with David Blatt as coach: Lebron walked all over him.

Look, everyone needs a coach. Even Lebron. My gut tells me he's the kind of guy that in the absence of strong leadership will take charge. I like that. Blatt didn't have the ability to manage Lebron and it was fantastic that Lue not only undersstood Lebron, but that Lebron respected Lue to do exactly that: shut up, listen and learn.
posted by tgrundke at 9:04 AM on June 20, 2016


In the final few games of the series, Lue made some great in-game decisions. You can argue that Kevin Love's presence lost the Cavs a few games in the middle of the series, but it was incredibly gutsy for Lue to give Kevin Love the start and significant playing time in game 7. Love grabbed so many timely rebounds that it really hurt the Warriors. Lue also inserted Mo Williams into a game or two for a couple of good buckets, and greatly reduced and eliminated Matthew Dellevedova's playing time. He also pulled Channing Frye. In the NBA people love to talk about how it is all about matchups, and Lue identified the right ones and made adjustments.

Lue came right to the brink of playing Lebron too much, but did get him the rest he needed, which was something ridiculous like 2 minutes in game 7. But Lue took a great timeout as the end of game 7 approached, when the Cavs looked frazzled. Lue was also completely composed.

That moment after the Cavs won the NBA championship and Lue was over on the bench crying by himself, I'm like SOMEBODY GO HUG HIM for goodness sakes! Everybody needs a hug.
posted by cashman at 9:06 AM on June 20, 2016 [7 favorites]


Can we have just one moment that doesn't get turned into a race issue?

That was a response to someone asking "Why do people hate lebron James?" If you think that race has nothing to do with it, even if you want to reduce it to "just one moment", it isn't scrittoire who's turning it into a race issue. 21st century America, celebrity culture, sports (especially basketball)... frankly, those are all fraught with race issues regardless of whether the 31st largest metropolitan statistical area in the country that's 72 percent white has forgiven LeBron James for the sin of going to another team.
posted by Etrigan at 9:12 AM on June 20, 2016 [19 favorites]


As a guy that loves to play defense, can we talk about Love's defense on Curry at the end of the game? Generally as a defender, one of the toughest things to do is to guard a point guard who is "off". Meaning that there are traditional point guards who have moves you can understand and deal with. Chris Paul. John Wall. They're fast, they have moves, but they're standard, mentally understandable moves.

But Kyrie and Curry are different. They have a dizzying array of moves, and their stop and starts are nigh impossible to guard as a single defender. Last night in game 7, Kyrie went baseline on Festus Ezili, and did a couple of stops and starts, then went up with the left hand for the layup. It's so tough to guard that.

So for Kevin Love to be out there on Steph, trying to stay with him and keep him from getting off his incredibly accurate shot, was just phenomenal. In 99 of 100 chances, Curry would probably burn him. But Lue had him in the game, and Love responded, and it was beautiful to see. Curry made no fewer than 6 moves to get a shot off, and Love, who is anything but quick, stopped him.
posted by cashman at 9:19 AM on June 20, 2016 [7 favorites]


Those were the best few seconds of defense Kevin Love has ever played.

I talked about it a bit in the FanFare thread but the total improbability of Cleveland's victory can't be overstated. The massive win differential between the two teams (16), the bad match-ups , the bad metrics. Everything pointed to a brutal series for Cleveland. On paper this way going to be one of the most lopsided finals in history.

Then they got blown out by a record setting point total in the first two games. Then ended up losing a game at home to end up down 3-1. The improbability just kept piling up. They did a number of things in this series that we totally unprecedented. It's rare to see a moment in sports like this occur. This is one of those moments where I have to consider how much longer I'll be alive to guess whether I'll see any of these things happen again.
posted by French Fry at 9:35 AM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


I feel bad for people whose "ewwww sportsball" aversion to sports cost them the chance to watch this game. It was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen on television.

I don't have tv, so I was "watching" this game via tweets.

It still managed to be an amazing game.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 9:41 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


People are always going to resent LeBron for not being on their team - as soon as the Warriors became the best team they became the villain to a lot of people too - but Ohio was well on the way to forgiving him and now is it even a question?
posted by atoxyl at 9:42 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Congrats to Clevelanders!
posted by Lyme Drop at 9:42 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


This was a crazy (and nail-biting) postseason in general.
posted by atoxyl at 9:44 AM on June 20, 2016


Derek Jeter and Kobe Bryant (who deserves legit hate for a number of things), both of whom did full year victory laps, were hated by some in the moment but immediately revered once they were past the circus

IMO the stain on Kobe is a long ways from removed.
posted by Lyme Drop at 9:45 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


First the Sharks, then the Warriors, this whole "local franchise making history and then choking in the finals" thing had better not be a metaphor for the current Bay Area economic boom.
posted by Apocryphon at 9:51 AM on June 20, 2016


Much respect for LeBron. Made the right choice for himself and won 2, then came back to Cleveland and worked his ass off to win one for his hometown. What more do people want.
posted by fraxil at 9:54 AM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


Cam Newton, who seems like a genuinely very nice and fairly humble guy, is hated in some quarters basically for seeming like he's having fun being a really good football player.

I thought that a fair amount of the Cam Newton hate was by proxy. His father appears to be a grade-A asshole and sometimes it's tough to separate the two. I'm not a football fan, but I remember being surprised that Cam Newton seemed to be a hard-working, reliable dude, with no more ego than you would expect from a freakishly talented and massively paid athlete. Based on what I'd heard about him and his father, I was expecting a monster or some sort of Ryan Leaf flame-out.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 9:55 AM on June 20, 2016


Can we have just one moment that doesn't get turned into a race issue?

I urge you to watch the currently airing 7.5 hour ESPN OJ documentary, then come back and we can have a whole thread about whether race has anything to do with how people feel (and talk) about the success of LeBron James. Actually, we can skip the thread, but that documentary is probably the best thing that has ever been on ESPN -- and I say that as a huge fan of some of the other 30 for 30 pieces -- and one of the best television documentaries you will ever see. Seriously, watch it.
posted by The Bellman at 10:09 AM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


How did white America come around on Ali, then? Or did they ever?
posted by Apocryphon at 10:14 AM on June 20, 2016


White America came around on Ali the same way it came around on Martin Luther King, by letting enough time pass that it could neuter their messages and pretend like everyone had supported them all along.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:20 AM on June 20, 2016 [18 favorites]


How did white America come around on Ali, then?

What Bulgaroktonos said, plus he retired, and then he got Parkinson's and more or less dropped out of the public eye.

Or did they ever?

A lot of them didn't, no. There was a fair amount of "Yeah but he was a draft dodger" and "Yeah but Farrakhan" and suchlike when he died. On the plus side, things have evoled to the point where that was mostly at a racist-uncle-on-Facebook level instead of a dickheads-on-every-news-channel level.
posted by Etrigan at 10:20 AM on June 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


Can we please just have a basketball thread?

FanFare thread.
posted by Etrigan at 10:24 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


How close was that block? 0.1 second? Half an inch? Any more and it would have made contact with the backboard before LeBron got to it.
posted by miguelcervantes at 10:41 AM on June 20, 2016


No kidding. Blocking a layup without touching the shooter is impressive enough when you don't have to cross a few ZIP codes in the process.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:45 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm a native Clevelander (since transplanted) born to an extremely un-athletic family. My only real exposure to sports as a kid was watching games on TV with my stepfather, whose passion for Cleveland's teams struck me as exotic and interesting. After I left home, I pretty much stopped watching. But I got a lot of vicarious joy last night watching my Facebook feed blow up, knowing the happiness that this win brought my stepdad (my little sister, still at home, reported tears and champagne).
posted by merriment at 10:47 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


Those scoreless last four minutes, good god. That game was, like, fractally nail-biting.

Also, can we talk about Draymond Green's first half? Unless I missed an earlier attempt or two I think at one point he was 4-of-4 in field goal attempts and they were all 3s? It was enough to get everyone feeling like GSW had the game at the end of the first half.
posted by invitapriore at 10:48 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


I think this series did as much to bolster Draymond's reputation as the previous series against OKC did to sully it. 1 assist away from a triple double with 32 pts in Game 7. He was 5 pts away from being Finals MVP, despite missing a game for discipline.
posted by miguelcervantes at 11:21 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


So *if*...and I don't want to be accused of jinxing anyone...if a certain Major League Baseball team with a certain goat-related curse were to win the World Series this year, who would take over as The Most Cursed Team or City? In terms of teams I guess it's probably still the Browns, but city-wise I'd say Buffalo.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:35 AM on June 20, 2016


Sadly, I think this moves Milwaukee up next on the list of sports futility

NY Times: The Most Cursed Sports Cities in America

Personally, I think Buffalo has it worse than Atlanta. The Braves at least won the World Series in 1995 (albeit that was the year after the strike so one cared about baseball).
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 11:37 AM on June 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


Although, as a Canadian, I think Toronto should be mentioned as part of the conversation. The Blue Jays made the playoffs last year for the first time since 1993 (the 22 year playoff drought was at the time the record among active streaks). The Raptors just had their best season ever simply because they got past the first round of the playoffs for only the second time in team history (and the first time that round one was a 7-game series). Then there's the Leafs, whose fans are like Biblical Job being tested by the God of sports--how bad can a team get before the fans lose hope and renounce their faith?
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 11:49 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


I think this series did as much to bolster Draymond's reputation as the previous series against OKC did to sully it.

Well, that and a whole lotta shots to other people's junk.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:18 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Personally, I think Buffalo has it worse than Atlanta. The Braves at least won the World Series in 1995

I think the focus on championships skews the Braves who went to the playoffs for every year there was a playoffs from 1991-2005. Admittedly, Buffalo has a somewhat similar issue with the four Super Bowls and the Sabres making the finals in 1999, but there wasn't that kind of sustained dominance to my mind. Also, the Braves and their fans are terrible and should win nothing, not even the competition for biggest loser.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 12:29 PM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]



As Clevelander, I expected the bottom to fall out, that we'd lose at the last second in an unexpected way. When Lebron fell at his last dunk, and he winced in pain; I immediately thought "this is it". He would be unable to stay in the game, wouldn't hit the free throws, broken wrist. Klay, Steph, or someone would hit a three; game would go into OT where the demoralized Cavs would lose. I didn't believe that we would win until Curry missed that last three-pointer with 5-10 seconds left.

This (winning) is an unprecedented feeling.
posted by fizzix at 12:35 PM on June 20, 2016 [6 favorites]


I think the focus on championships skews the Braves who went to the playoffs for every year there was a playoffs from 1991-2005.

Because Bobby Cox was a great regular season manager and a crap playoff manager. He had one of the best pitching lineups in the history of baseball and continually left them in too long so they got tired and blew leads. #notthatimbitter
posted by kirkaracha at 12:37 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Don't get too excited, Clevand sports fans. God still hates you.
posted by TedW at 12:38 PM on June 20, 2016 [4 favorites]


" I tremble at the thought of the post-Red Sox World Series win level of "they never believed in us" proclamations, followed by a blossoming of a Midwestern offshoot of Massholery just in time for the RNC (every single fucking speech will mention the Cavaliers)."

Hey, I'm from Massachusetts and find this offensive. There is no way Cleveland would be able to replicate a creditable level of Massholery after a single NBA title. It takes, generations, nay centuries, to create of finely crafted balance condescension and persecution. I'm sure as the pilgrims were starving to death they were critiquing the Wampanoag's lacrosse play-calling.
posted by lowtide at 12:45 PM on June 20, 2016 [15 favorites]


I left Akron, Ohio on Saturday and drove past two schools on Tallmadge Ave wishing good luck to Hometown Hero No. 23. I don't care about basketball. I've never cared about basketball. But Akron needs every bit of help it can get, and he's remembered that. He didn't even graduate from a public school here, you know? He won the genetic lottery and it's basically been the equivalent of winning every other lottery, too, since he was young. I don't expect him to be a perfect person, but I appreciate that Akron has someone on its side who actually has resources to make a difference. The prevailing attitude in Summit County among white people is generally that you should just avoid living in Akron at all costs and... I don't know, somehow it'll sort itself out?

I don't like the idea that one person's career might make a significant difference in Akron's future, but god knows it's better than just letting the city fall apart. I'm feeling a bit homesick, now, wishing I could have gone out today and seen people after that. Akron can use more hope. Between this and getting rid of Scarborough at UA, maybe things are looking up.
posted by Sequence at 12:57 PM on June 20, 2016 [4 favorites]


A perfectly fine Clevelander I once knew electronically told me Cleveland was a good place to live.

Cleveland's good. Akron is better.
posted by slogger at 12:59 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


I used to be crazy about James. LOVED him. This as a longtime Warriors fan. I just loved his athleticism, I loved the responsibility he took for his mother's care and for his girlfriend and child while he was still so young. SO young.

And I really don't gaf about The Decision. I thought it was a little childish but eh, whatevs, he's a sports star.

But then I started hearing about (and seeing) examples of him treating people really poorly. Not big people, just little people. I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to believe in the LeBron James who checked his mom into rehab and then, the very moment it looked like she was relapsing again, whisked her out of the public eye and back on track. That's a good son.

But man, I really believe that your character is revealed by how you treat people who can do nothing for you. Like towel boys or whatever they're called in the NBA. When you start feeling so superior to the world that you treat kids like crap, that's when I stop respecting you.

I was still a fan back in 2014 when Andy Borowitz posted this, but I still thought it was funny.
posted by janey47 at 1:25 PM on June 20, 2016


Citation needed.
posted by cashman at 2:12 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Last night was really a magical night to be in Cleveland, and the fact that they won was the icing on the cake. Its really unfortunate that so many people seem to feel like this is their opportunity to let people know how shitty they think Cleveland (or ohio, or the rustbelt in general) is like its some accomplishment that their fate led them to live somewhere else. Most places are nice and it shows such low character to make jokes about a city people love and choose to spend their lives in.
posted by anthropophagous at 2:40 PM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


A perfectly fine Clevelander I once knew electronically told me Cleveland was a good place to live

I used to go to Cleveland fairly frequently as a kid and always looked forward to it. Though in retrospect it was actually Shaker Heights and my uncle was basically our family's Phillip Banks so....
posted by Hoopo at 2:56 PM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


Somewhere, Bingo Smith and World B. Free are smiling...
posted by AJaffe at 3:02 PM on June 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


We can take race out of discussions of basketball when people stop rolling out tired-when-Iverson-was-playing dog whistles about how they don't like the NBA or prefer college ball because "the league is full of thugs."

It was shocking, when I was showing sports at my bar, the difference between comments made while watching football (largely comments about the game then playing on the TV) and when I had basketball on. It's like closet racists feel emboldened by the very presence of the NBA to hold forth on how much they (again, through dog whistles) just don't like black people. The question was asked, why do people hate Lebron. Part of the answer is tied to how people talk about the draft, and how (thank god it's starting to shift) white prospects are only ever compared to white players, and black prospects to black players. Or, you know, the myth of the next great white hope which isn't as prevalent as it once was, but still managed to see players taken way, way to high because of the hype machine (usually coming from college, which has a massive and sincere rooting interest in "scrappy," "hardworking," "intelligent," players who "play the game the right way.") that gives us such stalwarts as #3 overall pick Adam Morisson, or the unfunny joke that was the overly long career of Jimmer Fredette.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:08 PM on June 20, 2016 [7 favorites]


How LeBron James won the 2016 NBA Finals MVP (50 second YouTube video)
posted by cashman at 5:36 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Surely Kyrie deserves some plaudits too. Not just for his decisive three when the GSW had been defending LBJ very effectively, but for his overall presence. Very fun game to watch although the fourth quarter had plenty of hero ball.
posted by ersatz at 8:09 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


All right Cubs, you're up next...
posted by SisterHavana at 8:57 PM on June 20, 2016


Crazy stat that will never ever be equaled again. The Warriors went 73-9 in the regular season, and 15-10 in the postseason. Lost more games in the postseason than regular season.
posted by skewed at 10:15 PM on June 20, 2016 [8 favorites]


Steph was clearly not his regular season self. Those two injuries at the start of the playoffs basically decided this series. Hopefully he's not done any permanent damage playing through it.

LeBron is just so ridiculously gifted physically that it's easy to begrudge him his success. It feels like rooting for him to win is a cop out. I've had a weird dichotomy in my head about the Cavs; I wanted them to win a championship at some point, but didn't really want LeBron to be the one to do it.

I'm a bad person for this, probably. Meh.
posted by trif at 2:48 AM on June 21, 2016


Lebron's success is not from a genetic lottery or anything like that. He is not the only person in the world who is his height. He is successful because he is super smart and has worked his ass off over the years.
posted by cashman at 3:47 AM on June 21, 2016 [5 favorites]


Lebron's success is not from a genetic lottery or anything like that. He is not the only person in the world who is his height. He is successful because he is super smart and has worked his ass off over the years.

not all of those are mutually exclusive
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 6:00 AM on June 21, 2016 [2 favorites]


LeBron is in the 99.985th percentile for height for US males. Given that he's a physical marvel on top of that, i think he's won some sort of genetic lottery. I concur that he's also smart and he does work exceptionally hard.

The hard work and smarts thing is a red herring though; Loads of people work really hard and/or are exceptionally clever that will never be capable of his feats of athleticism.

If you asked me if he deserves his success, then i'd say yes. Doesn't mean i'm gonna root for him though. That's just too easy.
posted by trif at 6:50 AM on June 21, 2016


LeBron is in the 99.985th percentile for height for US males.

Sure, he won the genetic lottery, but so did everyone else in the NBA. James is only around the 60th percentile for all-star NBA players. But no one's saying that Al Horford is an underachiever because he doesn't have any rings, and he got an even better genetic lottery ticket.
posted by Etrigan at 7:01 AM on June 21, 2016 [2 favorites]


The Warriors went 73-9 in the regular season, and 15-10 in the postseason.

Golden State only lost the same number of games in the regular season and playoffs (they went 15-9 in the playoffs: 1 loss in each of the first two rounds, 3 in the conference finals, 4 in the finals). That is still crazy, though, and is still an NBA stat that is unlikely to be topped.
posted by Earthtopus at 7:01 AM on June 21, 2016 [5 favorites]


The hard work and smarts thing is a red herring though; Loads of people work really hard and/or are exceptionally clever that will never be capable of his feats of athleticism.

It isn't a red herring at all. Read up on Lebron. It's worth it. Can't blame people because there is a mountain of hate obscuring all the incredible things people don't know about, but it's there. On another note, I think people just imagine folks who look like me and Lebron just wake up with muscles and physique and the ability to play sports. No, it takes an incredible amount of study, work and practice. It also takes a lot of intelligence, often at times when your body is physically spent, which affects your cognitive processing. Maybe I'll do an FPP on it.
posted by cashman at 7:27 AM on June 21, 2016 [6 favorites]




That is still crazy, though, and is still an NBA stat that is unlikely to be topped.

It's very, very unlikely to be topped in two of the other major leagues, either.

The record for fewest losses in a 162-game MLB season is 48. You can lose a maximum of 10 games in the MLB playoffs, and it's unlikely that a team that shattered the wins record by 40 would have to play a wild card game.

In the NHL, the 82-game record is 20 losses, and the most playoff losses possible under the current system is 13. (the Canadiens lost only 8 in a 70-game season in 1976/77 and could have lost 10 in the playoffs, but only lost 2).

In the NFL, though, four teams have gone 15-1 in the regular season and lost a game in the playoffs, and the most recent one was just last season. Of course, the Patriots lost more in the playoffs than the regular season in 2007.

So, yeah, biggest regular-season-to-playoffs collapse ever.
posted by Etrigan at 7:41 AM on June 21, 2016 [2 favorites]


lebron james ruined my dad's fathers day and for that he will never be forgiven
posted by burgerrr at 8:42 AM on June 21, 2016


I could see the regular season / postseason ratio being hit in the NHL, too. It would be a larger statistical swing than the Warriors doing it, but it isn't outside the realm of possibility in the next 50 or 60 years.

No way that this can happen with the MLB. A better comparison for that might be "Series Lost in Regular Season v. Games Lost in Postseason," which doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
posted by miguelcervantes at 9:18 AM on June 21, 2016 [1 favorite]


A better comparison for that might be "Series Lost in Regular Season v. Games Lost in Postseason," which doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

By my count, the 1906 Cubs come damn close to this feat, with only a single round post season. Admittedly, I'm just reading a schedule and making tally marks, but I count them as losing 5 series over the course of the season, then dropping four games to the White Sox in the World Series.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:11 AM on June 21, 2016


Doing the same thing, I think the 2001 Mariners exactly tied their regular season series loss vs playoff losses with six of each. Again, though I might be counting wrong, because I'm just staring at page after page of game results.

I have some work I don't want to do, can you tell?
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:15 AM on June 21, 2016 [2 favorites]


The hard work and smarts thing is a red herring though; Loads of people work really hard and/or are exceptionally clever that will never be capable of his feats of athleticism.

Any single factor you pick there's going to be someone in the NBA comparable to LeBron - the thing is he's got all of them.

I get why fans tend to resent media hype around a particular player/team - again similar deal as why people turned on the Warriors (who I was rooting for but I'm from NorCal) by the end of the season. But what's the point of watching the NBA in the first place except to see 99.9999999th percentile people doing superhuman things?
posted by atoxyl at 11:24 AM on June 21, 2016 [2 favorites]


It's both a genetic lottery and an incredible work ethic.

Brian Grant, Josh Smith, Antawn Jamison, Ben Wallace

Are/were all very athletic and similarly built to Lebron. But none of them have done what he's done, none of them developed the tremendous skills he has. The body is a gift, everything else is work. When someone his size does what he does they become an all time great. Magic Johnson* and Larry Bird are the most common comparisons and like Lebron if either of them were 8 inches shorter they'd be a lot less special. But there have been plenty of 6'8'' or 6'9'' guys who are fast and strong and not generational talents.

Magic is the go-to Lebron comparison but I'd argue Karl Malone was actually the closest match in body type, if Malone had played for the nuggets or lakers instead of the super slow paced Jazz he would have been terrifying, dude was upsettingly fast on the break.
posted by French Fry at 12:05 PM on June 21, 2016 [5 favorites]


super slow paced Jazz

Jeez, let a guy improvise from time to time.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:19 PM on June 21, 2016 [3 favorites]


French Fry, I'd say that, out of your group of people on that list, with the exception of maybe Josh Smith, none of those players had a fraction of the raw speed that James has. Wallace, in particular, never had half of the background grooming James had, combined with wrist issues that caused a poor shooting form. I don't know a bunch about Grant, other than I imagine he'd have been a much different player in this era.

Smith is one of the most vivid examples of squandered potential out there. He's almost Sheed-like, if Sheed had never actually been good at shooting three pointers. He had all the tools to be a fantastic post up player, all the speed, all the defensive know how, but yeah, he picked up bad habits and never had anyone who was able to convince him otherwise. It's a damn shame because if someone like Josh Smith had the motivation of someone like Lebron James, it would have been amazing.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:46 PM on June 21, 2016


So we're all on this "'sheed would have been the greatest forward in NBA history if he was sociopath like everyone in the HoF and not a goofy normal dude" right?
posted by JPD at 5:23 AM on June 22, 2016 [3 favorites]


Sure, he won the genetic lottery, but so did everyone else in the NBA. James is only around the 60th percentile for all-star NBA players.

The genetic lottery isn't just height. I'd guess LeBron could destroy you or I at any sort of coordination focused activity - even if we'd been playing it for years and he just picked it up at that moment.
posted by JPD at 5:25 AM on June 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'd guess LeBron could destroy you or I at any sort of coordination focused activity - even if we'd been playing it for years and he just picked it up at that moment.

Or any activity that incurs oxygen debt - the man probably has lungs like a blacksmith's bellows.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:31 AM on June 22, 2016


In conclusion, LeBron James is very good at basketball.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 5:39 AM on June 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Human biology is a land of contrasts.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:43 AM on June 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Sure, he won the genetic lottery, but so did everyone else in the NBA. James is only around the 60th percentile for all-star NBA players.

The genetic lottery isn't just height. I'd guess LeBron could destroy you or I at any sort of coordination focused activity - even if we'd been playing it for years and he just picked it up at that moment.


I suspect that 60-plus percent of NBA players could also do that. My point wasn't that LeBron James isn't a physically gifted athlete -- I did say "Sure, he won the genetic lottery", after all. My point was that "LeBron won the genetic lottery" leaves out the fact that virtually everyone who plays at the major-league level of any sport (especially basketball, which is more dependent on a single physical trait than any of the other major league sports) "won the genetic lottery".

Downplaying his accomplishments or saying he has underachieved because he "won the genetic lottery" ignores that all of his accomplishments and underachievements have been in comparison to hundreds of other genetic lottery winners.
posted by Etrigan at 6:10 AM on June 22, 2016 [7 favorites]




People in Cleveland are scaling buildings to view the championship parade. It's kind of scary.
posted by cashman at 11:59 AM on June 22, 2016 [2 favorites]


People in Cleveland are scaling buildings to view the championship parade.

Cleveland, you got credit for not rioting. Don't make us take that away.
posted by Etrigan at 12:01 PM on June 22, 2016 [1 favorite]




Well, Chicago has just officially thrown in the towel, trading Rose for a discount-if-you-squint-really-hard bargain bin version of Joakim Noah, which means Noah is gone. I think Reinsdorf and his crony brigade have finally killed the Bulls for me. I'm honestly willing to become a fan of whatever team ends up signing Noah this offseason (please be Minnesota).
posted by Ghidorah at 6:21 AM on June 23, 2016


Although you have to admire the Knicks for not altering the course of the their trade policy despite the decades of evidence that they are morons.

High name recognition? likely expensive? career off the rails? Make that man a Knick!
posted by French Fry at 6:31 AM on June 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


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