Watching LeBron James clinch NBA title for the Cavaliers was special
I remember how I started rooting for the Cavs. I started playing the video game, NBA 2K and chose the Miami Heat a lot of times because it had LeBron James and he was the most celebrated basketball player in the world.
The commentators in the game kept trashing him for he had left his hometown team Cleveland to be in a cool city, and I found myself gravitating towards the Cavs.
The Cavs fared the worst among all teams that year in 2010-11, losing 27 games in a row, and set dubious records.
But as things go sometimes, following this reversal of fortune, it got the best college player coming to the league that year: Kyrie Irving.
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| Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (middle) celebrates with the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy after beating the Golden State Warriors in match seven of the NBA Finals. |
Irving was short in height by NBA standards, but he handled the ball beautifully. It was equivalent of Andres Iniesta's close ball control, Rahul Dravid's cover drive, and his showmanship reminded one of Ronaldinho in his peak.
Irving came, destroyed opponents and became a star. But the Cavs were still bad for years because one man can't win matches for the team alone.
I was 19 and emotionally invested in a sports team halfway around the world.
However, LeBron James, the best player in the world, wrote an emotional letter and decided to come back home, and everything looked rosy again.
He would once again try to win matches for the place where he was called "Jordan 2.0", where he was called "The Chosen One" and where his jersey and effigies were also burnt on the streets.
The Cavs suddenly had LeBron, Kyrie and traded all their major assets to acquire star forward Kevin Love. We had the "Big Three", and we were going to win, I was certain.
However, a new super team emerged in Golden State with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. They weren't as athletic, but understood the maths: three is greater than two.
The Golden State Warriors unlocked Steph and Klay by putting the tiny (for his position) but stocky Draymond Green at the centre. It became the first team to play Five-Out basketball.
All players except Steph were 6'7", 6'8" and could defend, pass and shoot the 3s. The team didn't have any really tall men, but could run its opponents out of breath and jack up 3s whenever given half a clear look at the basket.
Curry started hitting shots from 30 feet off the dribble, Klay developed the fastest shot release in the world and they killed off teams every match.
On the other side, Cleveland was having trouble gelling together after LeBron's return and suddenly had to deal with an NBA revolution in Golden State. Cleveland reached the finals against the Warriors in 2015, but Kyrie and Love got hurt, LeBron was alone yet again, and it lost 4-2.
Cleveland's wait for a title extended to 52 years.
Curry was 6'3" and scored from almost everywhere. His Warriors started the next season with 27 wins on the trot, and reminded you of Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls team from the 1990s and had the greatest season in NBA history.
The Cavs set up another date with the Warriors in the finals this year.
The series surprised everyone as Cleveland won two games on the bounce after going 1-3 down in a best of seven series. LeBron put in stellar performances as Curry cowered.
No team had ever come from a 1-3 deficit to win the finals.
Until today.
The seventh match was tied at 89-89 with under two minutes to go.
Then LeBron did this:
And Kyrie followed it up with this:
With all its scoring prowess and renowned shot-making ability, the Warriors couldn't score after this.
I kept jumping, pumping my fists, and retweeting at 8am on a Monday morning in New Delhi, thinking of a crying LeBron James, the poetic harmony of Kyrie Irving ending the Warriors with a 3 and what Mike Tyson once famously said:
"Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth."