It may be hard to believe, but it’s been a decade since that incredible season when the Cleveland Cavaliers won it all. As we approach the 10-year anniversary of that historic win, Ideastream Public Media sports commentator Terry Pluto has been reflecting on that Game 7 matchup with Golden State on June 19, 2016. It was the franchise's first and, so far, only title.
“It was remarkable in so many ways,” Pluto said. “First of all, Cleveland hadn't had a title in any sport since 1964, and that was the Browns. That was pre-Super Bowl days. It shows how long ago that was. In baseball, Cleveland's last title was 1948. And the Cavs had never won a title, but they came into being in 1970.”
In 2016, LeBron James was in his second season since returning to the franchise from Miami. When the Cavs reached the NBA Finals that season, they faced the Golden State Warriors who were having a fantastic season, making them the series favorite.
Four games into the Finals, the Cavs were down, 3-1, in the best-of-seven series.
Pluto said conventional wisdom did not favor Cleveland.
“First of all, Cleveland had to overcome being Cleveland, or whatever jinx and things you want to attach to not winning a title applied to that. But also, the way they came back, winning the last three games, unprecedented at that point in NBA history, and it remains unprecedented in the NBA,” Pluto said.
“(It’s) the thing you don’t normally get in Cleveland … You don't get the storybook ending, unless it's a Stephen King horror movie.”
James was the engine that drove Cleveland to victory, Pluto said, but it took a team effort to win the Finals.
“The whole had to be more than the parts to beat Golden State, because if you were just doing it player by player, this kind of thing, Golden State was better,” Pluto said. “Yes, LeBron was driving that engine, but there were plenty of cars behind him. Kyrie Irving, at that point, was a talented guard, possible future Hall of Famer."
Pluto also noted Kevin Love, who came from an underwhelming Minnesota Timberwolves squad in 2014.
"He came to Cleveland, he gave up some of his shots and scoring to become more of a rebounder defender to help them win," Pluto recalled. "They had Tristan Thompson, who was the guy that just loved to rebound and do the dirty work. And most of all, they just had a team that kind of embraced the moment.”
But when it came to coming back from a 3-1 deficit, Pluto pointed to James.
“LeBron was the one, when they were down three games to one, that wouldn't let them fall into a, ‘No one's ever done it before,'" Pluto explained. "He's done a bunch of things nobody's ever done before, and of course, he's continued to do that.”
New York City is deservedly over the moon about the New York Knicks clinching this year’s NBA Finals Saturday with a Game 5 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. It’s been more than 50 years since the Knicks won an NBA title, but Pluto noted championships in New York are not uncommon.
“When you look at New York as a sports entity, the Yankees have won World Series in that time, the New York Giants won Super Bowls. They’ve had good teams in other sports," Pluto said. "But when you talk about the 1964 Browns being the last title team in Cleveland of the major sports, then you don't get anything 'til 2016 with the Cavs. And you haven't had anything since. It was a moment for the ages.”
One final thing that made Cleveland winning the 2016 NBA Finals special was that Game 7 was on Father’s Day.
“I got so many emails, hundreds of emails, adult children watching games with their fathers, grandfathers, family, and weeping after they won the title — like the greatest Father's Day gift ever is this," Pluto said.
