Since 1964, Cleveland have failed to win a major championship in American football, basketball, baseball or ice hockey. The Cleveland Browns were the last side to win a title, when they defeated the Baltimore Colts to win the NFL title.
Lebron James is an Ohio native and arguably the best player of his generation. He started his professional career at the Cleveland Cavaliers before moving to Miami where he won two NBA titles. He returned to Cleveland at the start of the current NBA season with the sole objective of winning an NBA title with his local team.
When he announced his return last July, he told Sports Illustrated; "When I left Cleveland, I was on a mission. I was seeking championships, and we won two. But Miami already knew that feeling. Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio."
The 30 year old has guided the Cavaliers to the NBA finals, where they have suffered injuries to key players such as Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. The Cavaliers are facing the Golden State Warriors in the Finals where the best of seven series currently lies 2-2, ahead of Game Five tomorrow night in California.
James' stats in the series are currently outstanding, scoring 143 points in the four games including scoring at least 40 points in two of the games. Earlier this week on Off the Ball, they spoke to Ryan Jones, who is the Editor at Large of Slam magazine.
Jones thinks that James is currently the best player in the World, and with the Warriors without any players who have won the Finals, the Ohio natives experience may be crucial.
Lebron James is consistently compared with Michael Jordan and through the first three games of the series, James has better statistics for Jordan in shooting, assists and rebounds compared to Jordan's best stats in the NBA Finals.
The Cavs took a 2-1 lead after losing Game One and had the chance to return to California tomorrow with a two game lead only for a heavy loss in Game Four on Thursday night.
If James wins the Finals with his injury ravaged side, it will be his crowning moment according to Jones.
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