Where LeBron James is concerned, the thank-you's go both ways: Dennis Manoloff (photos)
CLEVELAND, Ohio — LeBron James thanked a lot of people Wednesday at the conclusion of the Parade Of The Century, which honored the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers in city streets and buildings and on light poles.
Among those LeBron thanked: the fans (as he should) and his teammates (as he should). Without the fans, he would not be wealthy beyond his wildest dreams by playing the game he loves. Without his teammates, he would not have won his third NBA title — although I disagree with his claim that he is “just one guy.” The Cavs, in case you hadn’t heard, rallied from 3-1 down to defeat the defending champion Golden State Warriors, they of the historic 73-9 record in the regular season.
The thank-you’s go both ways, of course. If I were a fan of the Cavs, this would be my partial list directed to LeBron:
* Thanks for reversing the Cavs’ fortunes in your first stint with the franchise, seven seasons from 2003-2010. You made the Cavs relevant again, including carrying the 2006-2007 team to the Finals. You created a revenue stream for the local economy.
* Thanks for leaving for South Beach in the summer of 2010. Not how you left — The Decision was a poke in the eye, and much worse, to the fan base — but that you left. I am convinced there is no POTC on Wednesday if you had not gotten out from under the crushing pressure of the Northeast Ohio-native superstar trying to win his first title while trying to break the Cleveland title drought.
How am I so sure? The 2006-2007 season was No. 4. Nos. 5-7 brought no Finals, only mounting frustration. The national media was loving it. The best teammate fits were not coming to join you, and you didn’t know what it took to win a ring. Consequently, you weren’t able to lead in the way you now know is necessary.
* Thanks for winning multiple titles with the Miami Heat. It didn’t need to be six or seven, but it needed to be more than one in order to be worth the trip and satisfy at least some of the critics. The final tally was two, out of four Finals appearances in four seasons.
* Thanks for winning the titles in the order in which you did. Season one — loss to the Dallas Mavaliers. Immediate psychological payback for The Decision. Seasons two and three — victories (Oklahoma City, San Antonio). Check the multiple-titles box. Season four — loss to the Spurs. If you had won three straight, you would have been obligated to try to extend the dynasty.
* Thanks for having enough of an issue with Miami ownership (my educated guess) and the front office (no guess necessary: Pat Riley) that you would leave the comforts of South Beach and your close friend, Dwyane Wade, in the prime of your career. I am convinced that Riley’s petulant presser soon after the 2014 season ended, the one where Riley took pot-shots while you were on vacation, sealed Miami’s fate.
* Thanks for forgiving Cavs owner Dan Gilbert enough for The Letter that you decided to come back to Cleveland, even if you needed to hold your nose during the agreement. I appreciate that Gilbert is mega-rich, fiery and loves his team, but I thought that The Letter crossed the line and might have done irreparable harm. I guarantee that more than a few of your friends in the game thought so, too. Yet you got past it, probably because, as you have intimated numerous times, you don’t play for owner(s). Teammates and fans are among those more important.
* Thanks for not holding it against the pockets of Cavs fans who railed against The Decision and hurled all sorts of insults. The attacks stung, no doubt, but you realized that fan anger was much more understandable given the circumstances than, say, owner contempt.
* Thanks for coming back a different player. You still were the best in the world at what you do, but with a better understanding of what it takes to win title(s). As a result, when you led the Cavs to the 2015 Finals and it became a 4-2 loss to Golden State, there was a different feel than after the sweep by San Antonio in 2007. The 2014-2015 team was building to something; the 2006-2007 team was not.
Fox Sports Time Ohio analyst and Mr. Cavalier Austin Carr said it best: Going to Miami was your version of college. It gave you an opportunity to grow in ways that aren’t easily quantified but whose effect is wholly evident.
* Thanks for playing angry during the 2016 playoffs. Friendly LeBron is a great player, but angry LeBron is even greater. I suppose the thanks here also should go to the unwise such as Detroit’s Stanley Johnson, Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore and seemingly everyone on Golden State for running their mouths.
* Thanks for wiping the smirks off the faces of the Warriors — if only for a couple of days — by orchestrating the epic comeback, thereby denying them the opportunity to dance on the Cavs’ graves two years in a row.
* Thanks for continuing to bring the best out of Kyrie Irving. It began with a leader-induced flushing of his bad habits that stemmed from constant losing with the Cavs at the outset of his career. The immensely talented and young Irving has developed into a legit wingman or, as the Finals showed, a capable 1A for stretches.
* Thanks for thanking Sasha Kaun on the stage Wednesday. That you thanked the seldom-used Kaun with one sentence, let alone for one minute, speaks volumes about your team-oriented mindset.
* Thanks for pulling the gorilla off the back of the fan base and dunking it in Lake Erie. No more moaning and groaning about zero titles in any of the major sports since the 1964 Browns. Middle-schoolers no longer must wonder if it ever will happen in their lifetimes.
* Thanks for continuing to pump truckloads of money into the local economy. It includes boosting the bottom lines of, to name two of many, T-shirt makers and restaurant/bar owners.
* Thanks for taking the time at POTC to end speculation about where you will play next season.
Cavs Nation can rest easy.
Where LeBron James is concerned, the thank-you"s go both ways: Dennis Manoloff (photos)
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