We all handle break ups differently. Some of us just dwell in the sadness or the anger or in some mixture of the two, unable to stop thinking about the one who was there so recently but is now gone. There’s others who celebrate what was once shared, grateful for their time together knowing that it was special in its own way, but also knowing that like all things it had to end. In the last decade, Cavaliers fans have reacted both ways to two separate break ups, eight years apart, both involving the same man.
This summer, LeBron James left Cleveland as an unrestricted free agent for the second time, and the reaction was much different from the first time it happened. In 2010, jerseys were burned and Cavaliers fans reacted even more poorly than one would have expected. They felt saddened that the championship they had long yearned for would not be delivered, and angry that he had seemingly abandoned them for greener — or at least, warmer — pastures. It was gross.
When LeBron returned, all was forgiven — never mind the fact that he never did anything wrong in the first place. And after he led the Cavaliers to the first championship in franchise history in 2016, he could do no wrong. The man could have set the Cuyahoga River on fire while defacing every artifact in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and still no jury in Northeast Ohio would have convicted him. Accordingly, his joining the Los Angeles Lakers this summer was greeted with a much greater sense of equanimity from Cavaliers fans than one would have expected following their collective tantrum eight years ago.
So Cleveland has been here before, well at least kind of. This is not the first time LeBron James has left the Cavaliers after a period of great success, leaving the team adrift, unsure where exactly they stand without him, but there’s a lot of differences. The Cavaliers are in a better place than they were eight years ago, with a bonafide All-Star in Kevin Love locked up for several years — maybe a few too many, actually — and a rookie point guard in Collin Sexton who they hope can be Love’s partner for the next few years and then the face of the team after that. But that situation sounds a bit rosier than it may actually be.
First, it’s hard to get too excited about a team where Kevin Love is the best player. We saw that before in Minnesota and in spite of Love’s individual brilliance they were never able to make the playoffs, which doesn’t bode well for these Cavaliers, especially considering Love has never looked as dominant in Cleveland as he did in Minnesota. Second, I’m not sold on Sexton, though I’d like to be. Almost all the compliments he receives are about his competitive fire rather than his actual basketball abilities, which seems at least a bit worrisome. It’s better than being led by J.J. Hickson and a 34-year-old Antawn Jamison, though, so there’s that at least.
Yet even without LeBron, the Cavaliers will still be shaped by the decisions they made while he was there for a while, kind of like when you’re stuck with the blender and the ottoman you and your ex picked out together. Their flexibility is limited and they will struggle to make the Playoffs, as currently constructed — but it remains a goal I imagine the team will really push for this season. Unfortunately for Cleveland, many of their players would be fine in limited roles for a good team, but are probably not going to really make much of a difference on a team in Cleveland’s current situation. It’s like this: you’d like to be able to bring J.R. Smith off the bench for bit minutes here and there, but you don’t want to have to rely on him as your starting 2-guard in the Year of Our Lord, 2019.
So Cleveland’s not necessarily in a great place, but at least they shouldn’t go 19-63 while losing 26 games in a row as they did the season after LeBron left for Miami in 2010. They’re certainly not good, but they’re also not in the NBA’s lower class. In a way, they’ve earned a bit of a free pass for at least a season or two as every observer of the league knows that losing LeBron James is not something one recovers from in a single offseason. What matters now is the decisions made in the aftermath of that loss.
From 2010 to 2014, many Cleveland fans maintained belief that LeBron would return and save the franchise yet again. They can’t count on that happening in 2022 and are now forced to reckon with what comes next. Expectations are tempered, and any success, however relative, will seem like a triumph. Cavaliers fans have their championship and are still basking in that afterglow, content with whatever may come in the foreseeable future. The problem will be to avoid staying in this place for too long and, considering their roster and their management, that is far from assured.
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