More than 20,000 fans greeted the team.
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There had been some speculation that the three-time National Basketball Association champion might opt out of his contract and go elsewhere now that he completed his dream of winning a title in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers championship t-shirt, which retails for $23.99, is now the top-selling item on NBAStore.com -it’s also the best selling championship shirt in the site’s history. The Cavaliers were honored with a parade after taking a seven-game series with Golden State.
But on a sun-kissed summer day in this football-crazed town, everyone was a Cavaliers fan and Cleveland wrapped its arms around a team that came together and defied the odds to win it all. Kevin Love wore a golden-studded WWE championship belt, one that was out of Cleveland’s reach for so long.
Although there was little doubt that LeBron James would stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers after their 2016 NBA Championship win, there was still speculation from some corners that he might leave Cleveland, Ohio.
Here are three things that we can all learn from LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavalier’s historic championship run.
The parade began outside Quicken Loans Arena before ending at the downtown Mall as fans spilled into streets along the 1.3-mile route.
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving will be riding in style in Rolls-Royce sedans.
“Just knowing what our city has been through, northeast OH has been through, as far as our sports and everything for the last 50-plus years”, James said on Saturday. The crowd was so large near Quicken Loans Arena that the parade was delayed because the open-air vehicles that were supposed to carry the Cavaliers were having difficulty getting through to the staging area.
During his remarks, owner Dan Gilbert revealed that general manager David Griffin had written to players after Game 4, telling them not to give up. Now, Cleveland is considered America’s most cursed sports city having never won a pro title since 1964 and with storied near-misses that get nursed alongside the weather-battered city’s other tragedies.
Cleveland’s close calls were tagged with infamous nicknames like Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Move and The Decision.
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.
A parade for second place.
There’s a new nickname – The End.
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“I’m nothing without you all”.
