After four straight Finals appearances, it felt like the end on Friday night
CLEVELAND At 11:20 p.m. on Friday night, long after all but the most die-hard of Cavs fans had switched off the TV, Cedi Osman checked into Game 4 of the NBA Finals for the first time and LeBron James checked out for maybe the last time.
The Cavaliers were down 102-77 to the Golden State Warriors with 4:03 left and, despite a standing ovation and chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!", the moment fell flat.
The season was over. Probably, his Cavaliers career, too, after 1,001 games, 27,692 points, five Finals appearances and one of the greatest championships in NBA history.
If Cavaliers fans wanted just a little more from him in the final game of this season — and make no mistake, it was a very quiet 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds — then it was just a quibble. The Warriors all but dared anyone but James to beat them on Friday and the strategy worked to perfection. James shot 7 of 13. The rest of the team was 23 of 74, with many of those misses coming after passes from James.
His teammates looked bad. He merely looked tired. It was easy to see why. It was hard to ask more from a player who dragged his worst collection of teammates since 2007 through the Eastern Conference and into his eighth straight Finals.
No NBA player was better this postseason.
Few have ever been better.
When the game finally ended, James stood off to the side, pulled the towel from his neck and walked off the court and into the locker room, leaving his teammates to congratulate the Warriors. (He'd already done so when he checked out of the game.) For the second straight year, the MVP went to Kevin Durant, who the Warriors were driven to sign after James ruined their historic 2016 season.
James' place in history was only burnished by this Finals run, but with his prime years dwindling, he knows he can't afford many more series like this, which is why he has to leave. Does anyone want to see him delivering pin-point passes to George Hill or Jordan Clarkson next year? Does anyone think there's a move the Cavaliers can make to close the gap between them and the Warriors?
He deserves the chance to chase championships. Barring a miracle — or a time machine to redo the Kyrie Irving trade — that won't be here.
The enduring memory of this year's playoffs might be James' catch-and-shoot game-winning 3 against the Pacers in Game 5 of the first round. Or maybe his off-the-glass runner to beat the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 of the semifinals. Or his alley-oop dunk to himself in Game 3 of the Finals.
But for me, it was a photo I saw earlier this week from Kosta Koufos' youth basketball camp, where roughly 100 boys lined up in a photo wearing Cleveland Cavaliers gear, most of them in LeBron James jerseys.
Players leave, teams break up, but memories last.
No matter what happens, a whole generation of fans will remember what happened these past four years, when the best player in the world returned to his hometown, lifted a basketball team out of irrelevance and ended the worst title drought in North America. He did everything he promised and more.
If this is goodbye, so be it.
As Dr. Seuss once said: Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.
Reach Joe at 330-580-8573 or
joe.scalzo@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @jscalzoREP