DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER
Hundreds of thousands revel in Cleveland’s champion status.
CLEVELAND — Cheered by a sea of wine-and-gold dressed fans spilling off sidewalks and choking the streets, LeBron James and the Cavaliers are parading as NBA champions.
The title drought in Cleveland is over. The party — and a procession slowed to a crawl by a mass of humanity — are just getting started.
Hundreds of thousands of fans, some arriving Tuesday night to camp out so they could get as close as possible, overwhelmed downtown Cleveland to celebrate with James, Kyrie Irving and their teammates. The Cavs made history by overcoming a 3-1 deficit to beat the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, ending the city’s 52-year championship drought.
This was the parade Cleveland has waited to throw since 1964, when the beloved Browns owned the NFL. There were lean years — and so many close calls — in between before James, born in nearby Akron, made good on his promise to bring home a championship.
He delivered it and Cleveland, where sports suffering has been a way of life for generations, and passionate northeast Ohioans are savoring every moment.
Fans stood on rooftops and portable toilets, and hung out of office building windows hoping to get a glimpse of James, who rode in a Rolls-Royce convertible with his wife, Savannah, and their three children. Near the start of the route and just metres from where his 10-storey-tall banner hangs, James stood and posed with his arms outstretched just as he does on the giant mural — life imitating art, the photo op of a lifetime.
The crowd was packed so tightly that fans could reach out and high-five their heroes.
No major city had endured more pain with its sports franchises. The Browns, Indians, Cavs and NHL Barons went a combined 146 seasons between sips of championship champagne.
Cleveland’s close calls have gained infamous nicknames: Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Move and The Decision are a part of the city’s troubled sports lexicon.
Cleveland was so desperate for a parade that the previous one held for a sports team came in 1995 after the Indians made it to the World Series for the first time since 1954. They lost to Atlanta. A parade for second place. However, James, star guard Kyrie Irving and their teammates, who survived a coaching change midway through the season and finally fulfilled expectations, have taken Cleveland back to the top.
There’s a new nickname — The End.