Cleveland Cavaliers Unlikely to Win NBA Championship This Season
By Kevin Holland
@KevinforSports
Getty Images
Don’t fret, Cleveland Cavaliers fans. Your city’s long desired, long anticipated championship will soon arrive. Just not this season.
There’s really no one to blame for it. Certainly not LeBron James, who has single-handedly tried to install a championship culture on the court and in the locker room. But neither is Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, or even Dion Waiters. They are simply playing the type of basketball that has worked for them since they left college. Even head coach David Blatt, who has made his fair share of rookie blunders, can be given a pass.
Time is what’s ultimately to blame for Cleveland’s wait for its first NBA title. It’s going to take months, if not years, before the Cavaliers become a well-oiled, well-coached basketball team that is capable of winning an NBA championship.
This is not without precedent. Prior to their recent championships in 2000 and 2008, the Los Angeles Lakers struggled in the playoffs, even with Hall-of-Fame players like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Pau Gasol. The Miami Heat needed a year to integrate the talents of LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the finals in 2011. The only recent exception would be the 2008 Boston Celtics, whose “big three” of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, playing in their first year together, beat the Lakers, who were still trying to play “team” basketball.
Right now, the Cavaliers are experiencing growing pains, which can be quite painful. But given enough time, the Cavaliers’ individual pieces will eventually fit together. Only then will the early miscues and struggles of this season become a distant memory.
Patience, my dear Cavaliers fans. Your team, and its championship in 2015-2016, will be worth the wait.
Kevin Holland is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinforSports or “like” him on Facebook.
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