The most satisfying series finales in NBA history

No. 3: 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers

Right up until the final buzzer in Game 7, I was rooting my little heart out for the Cavs to lose. Unlike most of the basketball-watching public, I hadn’t yet latched onto the romance of LeBron bringing a championship home to Cleveland. Some were on board the day James re-signed with the Cavs. Others waited until the moment they went down 3-1 in the series. Not me. I remained steadfastly opposed to the King ever wearing a crown again.

Why? Every second of his four-year stay in Miami, like me, many looked at James as the enemy. While I didn’t quite loath either Heat championship, I remained a part of the chorus of haters who thought him a fraudulent superstar. The players in my day would never team up to get a ring, dammit. Now move along, I just had that patch of grass fertilized.

And then, like magic, when the clock read all zeroes and game was over, I couldn’t deny the feeling that was washing over me, even though it was the last one I expected…

Like everyone else, I was happy for the dude.

The jubilation he experienced in winning a ring for his hometown was so genuine and so pure that anyone left in the basketball world who wasn’t on his side finally dropped all the pent up anger and gave the man his due. He had done what he set out to accomplish and did it in the most arduous fashion imaginable, not only coming back from 3-1 down but coming back from being the number one villain perhaps in league history. He had finally exorcised the demons of “Not one, not two, not three…”

Speaking of which…