LeBron James: A Promise (Finally) Fulfilled

LeBron James delivered on his promise to bring an NBA championship to Cleveland. We take a trip down memory lane, and how LeBron was able to deliver.

Cleveland, the curse is finally over.

Fifty-two long years without a championship. LeBron James is the first athlete since Jim Brown in 1964 to bring a title home to Cleveland.

The pressure for LeBron James to win a championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers has existed for more than 13 years.

LeBron entering the NBA (2003-06)

Once the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Draft Lottery on May 23, 2003, the pressure was on LeBron. Everyone knew the Cavs would draft him.

Surely enough, on June 26, 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected LeBron James with the first overall pick.

First career playoff appearance (2006)

The next season, he carried the Cavs to 50 wins and into the NBA Playoffs. At 22 years old, he averaged 31 points per game on 48 percent shooting in the regular season. He averaged 42.5 minutes per game, which is still the highest he’s averaged in a season during his career.

Cleveland faced the Washington Wizards in the first round during the 2006 NBA playoffs. If your memory is bad, this was when Gilbert Arenas was a baller. He averaged around 30 points per game that season.

LeBron got the best of him in this series. Cleveland had the homecourt advantage in this series, but Washington stole that advantage after winning Game 2 in Quicken Loans Arena.

In his first career NBA road playoff game, LeBron dropped 41 points, and came through with this clutch game-winning lay-up: (The game winner comes around the 12-minute mark)

Yes, LeBron got away with a travel on that layup. But that was more than10 years ago. Who cares anymore?

LeBron and the Cavs went on to close the series out in six games. The Cavaliers went on to face a Detroit Pistons team that won 64 games that season. Cleveland was simply over-matched, but LeBron forced the series to seven games.

That season was huge for LeBron James’ confidence. Not only did he take Cleveland to the playoffs, but he won a playoff series against a talented Washington Wizards team. And he took the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons to a Game 7. It was a great year for the Cavaliers.

1st NBA Finals appearance (2007)

Then came the historic 2007 season. The year LeBron James made his first NBA Finals appearance. Most of you know where I’m going with this, so let’s skip ahead.

Here’s his historic game against the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals Game 5, when he scored 48 points, and the team’s final 25 points:

Many analysts still believe this is LeBron’s greatest performance to date. That’s hard to argue with, it’s definitely in his Top 5 to say the least.

TNT commentator now Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who called this game, called it “Jordan-esque.” It’s funny now, because LeBron just defeated Kerr’s team with a “Jordan-esque” performance.

What people forget is that the Cavaliers lost Games 1 and 2 of the series. They were down 0-2, and came back and won the next 4 games to close the series out and advance to the NBA Finals.

Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs were waiting on LeBron’s Cavaliers. It was a miss-match, but Cavaliers gave the Spurs everything they had. They were simply over-matched.

San Antonio went on to sweep the Cavaliers, continuing Cleveland’s championship drought. Although this Cavalier team was far from being championship caliber, even Tim Duncan knew what LeBron James was capable of.

After sweeping the Cavs, Tim Duncan took the time to have a quick conversation after the game. He told LeBron:

"“This is going to be your league one day.” Then Duncan jokingly added, “Thanks for giving it to us this year though.”"

The loss in the NBA Finals fueled LeBron. To this day, he still vividly remembers the feeling and the hurt from losing that series. Despite all of the success he’s had.

In a press conference during the 2013 NBA Finals with the Miami Heat, he mentioned still remembering watching the Spurs celebrate a championship on his home floor.

LeBron said he doesn't forget the Spurs celebrating on his home floor in Cleveland in 2007 Finals.
— Al Iannazzone (@Al_Iannazzone) June 5, 2013

That was his only Finals appearance with the Cavaliers … at least in his first stint.

The last few years in Cleveland (2008-10)

He lost to the Celtics the next season in an epic seven-game series. And to Dwight Howard‘s Orlando Magic the following season in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Then the pressure really started to build on James. It was the final season of his contract, and everyone was speculating if he would leave the Cavaliers.

Despite all of the speculation, LeBron played it off and acted like he wouldn’t leave the Cavaliers. In an interview with NBA TV, he said:

"“I have a goal, and it’s a huge goal. It’s to bring a championship to Cleveland. And I won’t stop until I get it.”"

Here is the link for that interview, he says that quote around the 4:48 mark.

Even though LeBron’s future was uncertain, he was still loved just as much by the city of Cleveland. His popularity nationally was the best it’s ever been.

Him and Kobe were in Nike commercials together. Well … the puppets of themselves were. Here are some of the classics:

My favorite one was the last one, when LeBron puts in game-tape of himself, only to see Kobe hijacked his tape with highlights of himself.

LeBron and Kobe were on top of the NBA world. Everyone wanted to see them go against each other in the NBA Finals. Unfortunately it never happened.

Part of the reason why LeBron was liked so much nationally was his under-dog status. His Cavalier team wasn’t filled with All-Stars and super-stars, he carried the team. In a way, some people felt sorry for him.

After LeBron’s 61-win team lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semis, the doubt surrounding LeBron’s future really started to grow.

The Decision (2010)

Many teams flew in to Cleveland to meet with LeBron. Including the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, and a few others.

As the days went by, rumors swirled that the possibility of LeBron James leaving to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami was very likely.

Before that rumor started, the Cleveland Cavaliers desperately tried to work out a sign-and-trade with the Toronto Raptors to bring Chris Bosh to Cleveland. Bosh ended up saying no, and Miami was the place he would go if LeBron wanted him on his team.

Then came July 8, when James went on ESPN to announce “The Decision.” At the time, there was still a lot of uncertainty. Even the day of, no one knew for sure. Maybe not even LBJ.

At 9:28 p.m. on July 8, 2010, LeBron James said the infamous words:

"“This fall, I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.”"

Words cannot describe the amount of hate LeBron took after this. It was a slap in the face to the city of Cleveland, and pretty much the entire NBA.

It seemed like a great move marketing wise. Hey, everyone has stalked you the last month trying to find out where you will go, so let’s go on TV and announce your decision. What could go wrong?

Everything went wrong. We’ve all seen the footage of people burning his jersey, and the letter Dan Gilbert wrote. It was awful.

Wow. Fans called it the worst thing that happened to Cleveland since Art Modell took the Browns away. One fan even said

Not only that, but in the next few days … it got worse. When LeBron joined Miami, they hosted a welcome party for him, Wade, and Bosh.

LBJ proclaimed that his new Miami Heat could win multiple championships. Not 1, Not 2, Not 3, Not 4, Not 5 … you get the point:

Miami introduced the new Big 3 like rock-stars. No wonder this team was hated so much, especially in the first year. The hate kind of died off after they won the first championship. That’s what winning does.

The hate was so overwhelming, Nike made a LeBron James commercial titled “What should I do?”

The city of Cleveland had a quick response to this commercial, calling LeBron out on his mistakes:

Miami Heat era (2011-14)

Let’s fast forward to LeBron’s first season in Miami. Specifically, his return to the city of Cleveland.

The hype around the game was surreal. The Cavaliers had to tighten security for the game, nearly tripling the amount of security for that game.

As expected, LeBron was met with a ton of boos. Every time he touched the ball, the Cavs fans booed him. They held signs proclaiming LeBron as a “Quitter.”

James scored 38 points in his return to his former team. Here’s the reception he received from the fans:

Cleveland was out-matched by LeBron’s Miami Heat. They couldn’t get “revenge” that way. Instead, they took pride in something else.

When the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, the city of Cleveland rejoiced in that loss. Heck, pretty much all of America did … outside of Miami.

It wasn’t until the second season in Miami that LeBron won his first NBA championship. The pain of watching LeBron win a championship in a uniform other than the Cavaliers really hurt Cleveland.

That’s what they wanted, and LeBron was supposed to bring that to them. Instead, he stabbed them in the back and left to win in Miami.

It only got worse from there … LBJ’s Heat won back to back titles. Cleveland was sick of seeing LeBron be successful in Miami. In a way, they were simply jealous. And seeing Samsung commercials congratulating LeBron only made the pain worse for the city:

The return to Cleveland (2014)

Now it’s the 2014 season, and LeBron James is at the end of his contract.

Surely he won’t leave Miami … right? Going into the season, the Miami Heat had a good chance to finish off a three-peat, winning three NBA rings in a row. It’s going to be hard to leave a dynasty like that.

After the Miami Heat lost the 2014 NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs, the quest for a three-peat was over. Which opened the door for LeBron James to return.

If the Miami Heat had won the NBA Finals in 2014, completing the three-peat, I believe LeBron James would have stayed in Miami.

Not only do I believe that, but so does LeBron James. He said himself that it “would’ve been hard” to leave an opportunity for four straight NBA Finals victories. But since Miami lost, it opened up the chance for LeBron to come home.

And surely enough, he did. We’ve all seen the letter LeBron wrote to Cleveland in 2014. Here is the essay that was published on Sports Illustrated.

Cleveland reacted with as much excitement when he returned than they did with hatred as he left:

If you thought that was crazy….here is his first game BACK in Cleveland in 2014 against the New York Knicks. The Cavaliers lost this game….but who cares. LeBron was back, and that’s all that mattered to the people in Ohio.

2nd stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2014-present)

The first year in Cleveland was great, but it had a sad ending nonetheless. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were both injured in the NBA playoffs, and just like every other season in the Cleveland Cavaliers history, it ended without an NBA title.

Unlike 18-year-old LeBron, this nearly 30-year-old LBJ knew it was going to be hard. He stated in his letter that this team was far from being able to compete for a championship, and it would be a long process.

This time, he didn’t promise a championship. He said the most important thing to him is bringing at least one trophy back to Northeast Ohio. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, it would take a while.

He was right.

The Cavaliers had to shake up the roster. They made a controversial trade by giving up the No. 1 overall pick (Andrew Wiggins) for Kevin Love.

More from King James Gospel

They traded Dion Waiters and received Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith in return. Wow … what a great deal. They also traded a draft pick for Timofey Mozgov.

Cleveland didn’t know how to win. It was up to LBJ to bring in the “Miami Heat culture” of winning to Cleveland.

LeBron was the only person involved in the Cavaliers organization that had a history of winning championships in the NBA. Everyone was counting on King James.

A lot of people gave Cleveland a pass last year in the NBA Finals since they were under-manned without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. This year was going to be different.

There’s always pressure on LeBron James, but I believe there was just as much pressure on LeBron to deliver a championship this season as any other season.

A lot of people close to LeBron doubted he could win in Cleveland. LeBron didn’t name anyone, but he did mention someone close to him in the Heat organization told him he was making “the biggest mistake of his career” by going back to the Cavs.

Everyone assumed it was Pat Riley, but we don’t know for sure.

If he couldn’t get it done it would mean a 2-5 NBA Finals record for his career, and 0-3 in Cleveland. A set-back that would’ve been incredibly hard to recover from.

LeBron claimed he didn’t feel the pressure, saying he “doesn’t pay attention to that.”

James activated “Zero-Dark Thirty” this season, as he went off of social media throughout the whole NBA playoffs. It was his way of trying to tune-out the media and the critics.

For the 6th consecutive season, LeBron James’ team cruised through the Eastern Conference en route to the NBA Finals.

And for the 2nd straight year, LeBron’s Cavs were going against Steph Curry’s Warriors. Except this time Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were healthy.

While the Cavaliers improved, so did the Golden State Warriors. They set the NBA regular-season record for 73 wins in a season, surpassing Michael Jordan‘s 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls.

Not only were the Warriors heavy favorites, but they came out and proved it in Games 1 & 2. Game 1 was close up until late in the 3rd quarter, and Game 2 was just an humiliating blowout.

Then came Game 3, the Cavaliers had home-court advantage for the first time, so it was a great opportunity for them to seize momentum.

Cleveland jumped out to a huge lead in the first quarter, and really never let up throughout the game. LeBron James’ alley oop in the 2nd half was the signature play of the game:

Game 4 was when the series took a huge turn. The Cavaliers lost the game, but this was when the series turned in their favor. Draymond Green got in a scuffle with LeBron James after LBJ stepped over him, and was handed a flagrant foul. He was suspended for Game 5.

Not only was Green out, but Andrew Bogut went down with an injury in Game 5, and was lost for the remainder of the series. All of a sudden, after historic performances from LeBron and Kyrie Irving in Game 5, the Cavaliers had a real chance to win this series.

Going into Game 6, everyone around the Cavaliers organization was calling it the biggest game in Franchise history. It lived up to the hype.

Cleveland jumped out to a huge lead in Game 6 just like in Game 3, except for this time Golden State slowly started to come back.

Despite the great effort from Golden State, LeBron James had another 41 point performance, and he simply was not going to let Cleveland lose.

Former Miami Heat teammate Mike Miller was at that game, and he said afterwards, LeBron was in “Ain’t gonna lose” mode. When he turns that mode on, there’s no way you can beat him.

James brings out that side of him when you need him the most. The few times we’ve seen it was against Boston in his classic 45-point Game 6 performance, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals in 2013, and in this year’s finals.

Perhaps the icing on the cake for the Game 6 win was LeBron James’ block on Stephen Curry late in the fourth quarter. Not only did he block Curry, but he had a few extra words for him afterwards:

We rarely see LeBron engage in trash talk like that, especially during the game.

It’s obvious Steph Curry has dominated the NBA the last two seasons, winning back to back MVP’s. Some argued he took LeBron’s place on the NBA throne … LBJ was having none of that. It was his way of telling Curry who’s still the best.

That set the stage for an epic Game 7. Winner take all for the NBA championship. By far the biggest game of LeBron’s career … or anyone else’s career that played in the game.

James had faced an NBA Finals Game 7 before … but it wasn’t in Cleveland. This was different than in Miami. This franchise hasn’t seen an NBA championship, and they were only 48 minutes away from their first.

After the Game 6 win, Kyrie Irving said winning that Game 7 on the road would be “the toughest thing they’ve ever done.” He wasn’t wrong.

While it was on the road, the Cavaliers had plenty of reasons to be optimistic. They previously had won Game 5 at Oracle Arena and had all the momentum in the world after winning Game 6 at home. Plus they had LeBron James on their side … the best player in the world.

Although there was reason to be optimistic, this was still CLEVELAND. The curse still existed, and it had the potential to get all “Cleveland-like” real quick. The sports history is nothing but heartbreak.

LeBron James changed that narrative on June 19, 2016. For the first time in 52 years, the city of Cleveland had won a title.

Many plays lived in Cleveland sports infamy. The Shot, The Drive, The Fumble, etc.

Finally the city had some plays to be remembered for a positive reason. LeBron’s chase-down block on Andre Iguodala should be remembered as “The Block.” Under the circumstances and magnitude of the moment, it was the best highlight of LeBron’s career:

Words can’t explain how awesome that block was. It was super-human to say the least.

Until that point, neither Golden State or Cleveland could throw the ball in the ocean. If LBJ had never blocked that shot, the Warriors could’ve easily went on to win that game. At the time, a 2-point lead was very hard to come back from.

As expected, his post-game interview was very emotional. I’m sure you’ve seen it a million times, but here it is. It never gets old:

"“CLEVELAND, THIS IS FOR YOU!”"

Those words will forever live in Cleveland’s sports history. You will see that phrase all over t-shirts across America, specifically Ohio.

LeBron James’ career would never be complete without a championship in Cleveland. He knew that.

Now, he is a free-man. He has nothing left to prove, anything after this point is just icing on the cake.

As an 19 year old player, LeBron had dreams of winning an NBA championship in Cleveland. At the time, he had no idea how hard it would be. So hard, that it took nearly 13 years for it to happen.

Nonetheless, he fulfilled his promise. The curse is over, Cleveland.

And the city partied like it on Wednesday. The Cavaliers championship parade took place downtown Cleveland, and it was everything you could’ve imagined. There were so many people there, it seemed like the whole state of Ohio. It was remarkable.

There were people climbing on top of buildings, trees, and anything they could physically climb on. They wanted to see their championship team.

You could tell how much winning the NBA Finals meant to the city. Not only did Cleveland win, but they were led by one of their own: LeBron James.

LeBron had a great speech at the victory parade. He individually thanked every teammate for what they brought to the team this season. From Kyrie Irving, to even guys like Sasha Kaun.

It was a speech filled with expletives and bad language, but at this point he can say whatever he wants. He brought the city of Cleveland a championship.

Nothing is given, everything is earned. Congrats LeBron.