On February 21, the Heat officially announced the signing of five-time All-Star forward Kevin Love, and according to team policy, the specific details of the contract will not be announced. With Love's departure, the last man in the 2016 Cavaliers championship team officially left...
Love Photo by IC photo
Waiting for Cleveland
Before James entered the professional league, the Cavaliers had not yet signed him and pinned their championship hopes on the best high school student. Everything seems perfect like the script, and James the Chosen Son was born in Akron. In 2003, the Cavaliers signed him with a top pick. In 2010, with James' move to the Miami Heat, the Cavaliers embarked on a difficult road to rebuilding, then focusing on developing Irving and Thompson, but it didn't work.
James Photo by IC photo
In 2014, James' return catapulted the Cavaliers to become a favorite to win the championship, and the Cavaliers also traded Wiggins for Kevin Love, and it looks like their championship lineup has taken shape. But in 2015, people realized that all this was not easy - although James had contributed epic performances, the successive injuries of Love and Irving cast another shadow over the future of the Cavaliers, which ultimately led to the Cavaliers' loss to the Warriors in the 2014-15 Finals and missing out on a championship. It wasn't until midway through the 2016 season that the Cavaliers straightened up assistant coach Tyronn Lue, and with Lue's guidance, the last piece of the Cavaliers' puzzle was finally assembled.
Summer 2016
Seven years ago, the entire city of Cleveland was looking forward to winning the first championship in the team's history. The story of that year finally went down in history, the Cavaliers' victory swept away the "no crown" haze that had long shrouded the city of Cleveland, and the team completed a super reversal, knowing that there has never been a legendary story in NBA history that a team that fell behind 1-3 in the Finals could win the championship.
That year, the Cavaliers' championship lineup was:
Head coach Taryn Lue, players James, Irving, Love, Thompson, JR Smith, Jefferson, Shumpert, Fry, Mozgov, Mo Williams, Jones, McRae, Jones, Delavedova, Cowen.
Looking back on that season, the "Big Three" of James, Irving, and Love led the Cavaliers to the next level, and after sweeping the Detroit Pistons and Hawks one after another, they made it all the way to the Finals, facing old rivals the Warriors. The Golden State Warriors were in the limelight that year, and as the defending champions who had just won the "Tie-of-Seven", the Warriors opened the game unstoppably to lead the Cavaliers 2-0. But people underestimated the Cavaliers' desire for victory, and I believe everyone was impressed by the G3 scene - James dribbled, passed the ball to Irving on the verge of almost falling, Irving immediately threw it to James, James made a one-handed dunk, and the audience cheered.
Game 6 of the 2015/16 NBA Finals, Warriors vs. Cavaliers Photo by IC photo
When the Cavaliers thought they could take advantage of the victory to pursue the next game, facing the terrifying Warriors, the Cavaliers lost at home for the first time. Everyone thinks the Cavaliers are over, because no team in NBA history has been able to reverse 1-3. But in the fifth game, Irving used 41 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists to pull the Cavaliers back from the cliff with James, and for the first time in NBA history, there was a performance in which both players on the same team scored 40 points, and the Cavaliers brought the suspense of the game back to Cleveland. Game 6 was played at the home of the Cavaliers, and James once again scored a game-high 42 points to lead the team into a best-of-seven game. After the big score reached 3-3, Cleveland rekindled his hopes of winning the championship. In the final showdown, JR Smith made consecutive three-pointers to help the team clench the score, James's block, Irving's three-pointer, and Love's defense successfully helped the Cavaliers reverse the championship.
Things are people and people, where did that group of people go
In Cleveland, winning a championship trophy means everything. The title meant a lot to Cleveland, and James led the team to break the city's 52-year "crownless curse" in North America's four major sports leagues. So, what was the current situation of these members back then?
Taryn Lue Photo according to IC photo
Tyronn Lue became the head coach of the Clippers in 2020 and is now an assistant coach of the U.S. men's basketball team; James left the Cavaliers to go to the Lakers, won his fourth career championship trophy in the Lakers, and became the NBA's all-time scoring champion some time ago; Irving joined the Celtics after leaving the Cavaliers, then went to the Nets and now goes around for the Lone Ranger; Tristan Thompson continued to play with the Cavaliers for 4 years, moved to the Celtics, Kings, Bulls, and is now largely retired as an analyst at ESPN; JR Smith went to the Lakers in 2020, won another championship trophy with James, and is now pursuing a liberal arts degree at North Carolina A&M State University; After 2016, Mozgov signed a 4-year, $65 million "junk contract" with the Lakers, which is also a pain for Lakers fans in recent years; Mo Williams ended his playing career after only one year after winning the championship and has now started his college coaching career; James Jones has now been promoted to president of basketball operations for the Suns, and some time ago, he also brought Durant to the Suns...
That summer of 2016, the Cavaliers made an indelible impression on all fans. The Cavaliers roster consisted of 18 people, and now more than half have left the league. With the departure of Love, it marks the official end of the era that belonged to knights in 2016...
Red Star News reporter Pei Han Zhou Yao
Edited by Ou Peng
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