Life in
the NBA is never easy. And if you are the Cleveland Cavaliers, that is an
understatement. This year, however, as November looms ever closer, the
normally gloomy atmosphere that lingers around the Cavs is surprisingly alive
and fresh with a sense of renewal. How has this city’s attitude towards
their downtrodden basketball franchise suddenly turned around? In one word:
LeBron. Yes, sure this topic has been talked about, and it may even seem jaded
at this point. Yet to Cavs’ fans who watched their team go from
Price-Nance-Daugherty to a franchise with no apparent direction that changed
coaches like socks, the winning of the LeBron sweepstakes automatically gave
this team an identity and it inaugurated an era that can only be regarded with
unbridled optimism.
Austin Carr’s tears on the day of the draft lottery are forever embedded
in my mind. I imagine that his emotions were not so different from my own. The
feeling that charged my soul knowing that luck had finally found her way to
shores of Lake Erie was indescribable. For the city of Cleveland, this is the
biggest thing to arrive since the Return of the Browns in 1999. LeBron brings
charisma and national attention to a cityscape that is desperate for it. He is
everything we asked for; everything we needed.
In the month’s leading up to LeBron’s regular season debut, the newly
discovered national interest in Cleveland has been seen. LeBron’s
appearances at awards shows and his numerous cameos on magazine covers,
posters, and Sportscenter have been extremely visible. His immediate impact on
ticket sales and attendance at the Gund has been profound. The Cavs always
play third-string in Cleveland, but LeBron has evoked the basketball fan
within multitudes of Clevelanders. With all this attention before he has ever
logged an official NBA minute, it is a fair question to ask how this kid can
ever live up to the hype. Can an 18-year old from a drive down the road really
guide this forlorn franchise to prominence and glory in the dog-eat-dog world
of the NBA? Ask me, and I do not hesitate: YES.
My assuredness is not based on dogged confidence in LeBron’s ability to
take over games. Rather, I have full faith in his ability to make his
teammates better. I have faith that with him on the floor, Ricky Davis will
shoot for a higher percentage and show he is a top five shooting guard, Carlos
Boozer will be a top five rebounder and be a rock at the four, Z will become
the uncontested second-best center in the NBA, and Darius and Dajuan will play
with renewed passion for the game and blossom into solid young players. LeBron
has proven that he has the ability to enhance team play. Further, I can see
his desire to succeed in all aspects, at any cost. That trait is very
admirable and rare in a rookie, especially a rookie straight out of High
School. LeBron is traveling along the right path, and now that he has allowed
himself to be taken under the strong wing of Paul Silas, nothing can go wrong.
As the season progresses, the Cavs will experience peaks and valleys. They
will be a high-energy team and a very dangerous team. As they go forward, the
path ahead for the Cavaliers will be daunting, but not impassable. They say
building a franchise is a lot like putting together a puzzle: each player is a
piece that goes towards the completion of the final work. LeBron is by no
means the final piece to the puzzle in Cleveland, but think of him as the
picture that guides you to what your result is supposed to look like. Finally,
there is a sense of direction in Cleveland!