The Cleveland Cavaliers have plenty of hope for the new NBA season, as they’re coming off a 128-96 dismantling of the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
It has given their broadcasters the luxury of laughing at the misfortune of a former Cavs superstar’s current team.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers blew a late lead on Sunday and dropped to 0-3 on the season, and Cleveland’s broadcast team shared a chuckle at their expense.
The Cavs broadcast reacts to the Lakers/LeBron’s 0-3 start.https://t.co/KATe2kYAyu pic.twitter.com/Wurj0lWTbL
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 23, 2022
Los Angeles led the Portland Trail Blazers 102-95 with less than two minutes left, but despite a great game from James, it ended up losing 106-104.
James has always thrived when he has had 3-point shooters around him, but his Lakers have shown an uncanny inability to throw a pea into the Pacific Ocean in their first three contests.
This is his 20th season, and as incredible as it is to see him continue to play at a high level despite his extremely high mileage, it does appear he is wasting his final great years on a substandard team.
It almost resembles the early portion of his career, during which the Cavs simply weren’t good enough to go all the way.
They were able to reach the NBA Finals in 2007 out of a weak Eastern Conference, and even though they had the best record in the league in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, they lacked enough offense to get over the hump.
In 2009, Cleveland fell to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the following year, it lost to an underdog Boston Celtics squad in the second round of the playoffs.
It led to James joining the Miami Heat and ripping the hearts out of the Cleveland faithful in the summer of 2010.
Of course, he returned four years later, and with an ascendant Kyrie Irving by his side, he was able to lead the Cavs to their first NBA title in 2016.
