The Redemption of the King. Vince McKee

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СКАЧАТЬ potentially tanking the season simply to increase their draft position for a shot at the high school phenomena. The Cavaliers really didn’t need to tank anything at that point, as they were already a very low-ranked team. With LeBron being from the Cleveland-Akron area, it seemed like a perfect fit but one that was almost too good to be true to happen for the Cavaliers.

      Kenny Roda, legendary Cleveland sports-radio host, knew early on that LeBron would be something special in the NBA one day:

      I was one of the first people to jump on the LeBron bandwagon while he was still in high school, after talking with his high school head coach Dru Joyce, as he told me about LeBron’s high basketball IQ. You just looked at the guy physically and mentally, and he didn’t look like a normal high school senior—he looked like a college senior. So physically and mentally, he was ready. I thought he would come into the NBA and become the Rookie of the Year and make an immediate impact!

      On July 30, 2002, the Cavaliers traded away their best players, Andre Miller and Bryant Stith, to the Los Angeles Clippers for Harold Jamison and Darius Miles. The move was stunning because it left them without a starting point guard. They would later trade Milt Palacio and sign the free agent point guard Smush Parker. However, none of these players were capable of starting on a regular basis. They had a couple of high-flying scorers with Miles and Ricky Davis, but without a point guard to get them the ball, it was looking like a very long season was ahead for the Cavaliers. This was a clear indication that although the team didn’t need to tank forcibly, they were preparing to do so in order to gain the number-one pick of LeBron James. Even more fuel was added to the fire when it was reported that LeBron was allowed to participate in an off-season practice with the Cavaliers. It was unheard of to let a high school student athlete practice with the pros, and it caused head coach John Lucas to be fined as well as suspended for the first two games of the 2002–03 season. Coach Lucas would later admit that he was in a no-win situation and was doing what he was told to do by upper management within the organization.

      The Cavaliers opened up the season on the road against the Western Conference powerhouse, the Sacramento Kings. It was a blowout from the very first bounce of the ball. Sacramento exposed the lack of firepower and lack of ability to move the ball by the Cavaliers, holding them to only 67 points. The final score was 94–67, and the game looked as bad, as the final score demonstrated. And without a starting point guard, it didn’t appear that the Cavaliers would be improving anytime soon. It was a clear indication of how the entire rest of the season would go for the team. They were set up to suffer and prepared to let their fans also suffer as they plotted for the arrival of the Chosen One.

      Following that opening night, the Cavaliers continued in their downward spiral with a 15-game losing streak. By December, their record was 6–24, with no improvement in sight. Things didn’t get much better after that, and by the all-star break, John Lucas was fired as head coach. He left the team with an 8–34 record. In just over a season and a half as coach, Lucas barely led the team to a paltry 37 wins. Additionally, the franchise was going through some serious growing pains.

      Cavaliers assistant coach Keith Smart took over as head coach, replacing John Lucas, but he didn’t have any better luck, as the team finished the season tied with the Denver Nuggets for the worst record in the league at 17–65. It was the Cavaliers fifth straight season missing the playoffs, and the team had gone through four head coach changes in that same period of time. This instability was very uncharacteristic for a Gordon Gund–owned team, and he was on the lookout for change to arrive quickly.

      The silver lining in the dark cloud of that season was the fact that Žydrūnas Ilgauskas played in 81 games—a great sign that he had fully recovered from years of foot injuries and surgeries. Ilgauskas was so impressive that year that he was voted onto the Eastern Conference All-Star Team. He averaged 17.2 points a game, along with 7.5 rebounds. He also led the team in blocks with 1.9 a night. For the Cavaliers to improve, the physical health of Ilgauskas would come to be a vital component of the overall effectiveness of the team. He solidified the frontcourt and served as a key player for a number of years to come. Additionally, the impact of the friendship that Ilgauskas would go on to have with LeBron 11 years later would also prove vital to future success the team.

      Equally impressive was the play of rookie standout Carlos Boozer. He played in 81 games, averaging 10 points a night and a strong 7.5 rebounds per game. The dream of Boozer in the frontcourt ripping down rebounds and scoring points looked bright for the Cavaliers, as he was quickly shaping up into a major player that the Cavaliers hoped to be able to count on to be their starting power forward for a long time to come.

      The 2003 NBA draft was regarded as one of the strongest in history. The top five picks produced four of the best players currently playing today. Cleveland selected LeBron James with their number-one pick; two picks later, Denver selected future all-star Carmelo Anthony from Syracuse. The Toronto Raptors selected Chris Bosh—one of the top players in the game today—out of Georgia Tech with the fourth pick. The fifth pick went to the Miami Heat, who struck gold with their selection of Dwayne Wade. (The Heat would eventually combine Wade with Shaquille O’Neal and win the NBA Championship just three years later.) The draft was loaded with talent, but it was clear that Cleveland was receiving its top prize.

      Opening night for LeBron took place on the West Coast when the Cleveland Cavaliers visited the Sacramento Kings; he scored 25 points against them and set an NBA record for the most points scored by a prep-to-pro player in his debut outing. The Cavaliers lost the game 106–82—the team couldn’t do much to help LeBron and couldn’t stop the high-powered Sacramento attack. Fans in Cleveland and the world over didn’t mind staying up late to watch LeBron’s professional debut. With the final score not in Cleveland’s favor, it was a very promising sign that LeBron was not discouraged and still put together a fine opening-night effort.

      Despite LeBron’s playing well, the Cavaliers lost their first five games of the season before winning back-to-back games at home against Washington and New York. As a rookie, LeBron handled the pressure of his position well. The team, however, did not, enduring an eight-game losing streak from late November through early December. Davis and Miles spent their court time hogging the ball when they really needed to find a way to hand the ball off to LeBron. On Monday, January 12, 2004, the Cavaliers hit a new season low of 15 games under 500. It was then that the winning combination of LeBron and Boozer began to form. LeBron showed great improvement during his first year and instantly became the team leader. Without the negative influence of Miles and Davis controlling the team, the other young players were able to grow together and make drastic and encouraging strides in the right direction. The writing was on the wall for Miles and Davis.

      The Cavaliers rattled off several winning streaks, including a seven-game clip in early March that put them in the playoff hunt. In a late-season match-up with the New Jersey Nets, LeBron scored a season-high 41 points—becoming the youngest player, at age 19, in league history to score at least 40 points in a game. Not only were the great plays of LeBron helping the team, but a couple of key midseason trades by general manager Jim Paxson helped as well.

      In a second-round draft pick, the Cavaliers traded Davis, Chris Mihm, and Michael Stewart to the Boston Celtics for Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown, and Eric Williams. The team later decided to also trade Miles to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jeff McInnis. It was a clear sign that with LeBron leading the team, all selfish ball-hogs had to go—with Miles and Davis at the top of the list. McInnis was a key pickup, as he could shoot and pass while providing instant offense every time he touched the ball. Williams was another important addition who brought a certain sense of veteran leadership to the team.

      Despite the added support, the Cavaliers would go on to tire out late in the season and slump through a seven-game losing streak in the final weeks. The team did close out the year strong, however, with three straight wins despite already being eliminated from playoff contention.

      Finishing with averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game, СКАЧАТЬ