2015-2016 Cleveland Cavaliers: Hollywood-Bound?
We posed this question to two of our writers:
Are the 2015-2016 Cleveland Cavaliers worthy of a Hollywood movie?
After all, this is more than a feel-good story about a franchise that’s never won a title… it’s also about a hard-luck town that hasn’t won a title in ANY sport in over 50 years. It’s an inspirational story about how they won – being embarrassed in the first two Finals games by a team that had the most regular-season wins in history, then overcoming a 3-games-to-1 deficit, a feat that no basketball team in history has ever accomplished.
Conversely, it’s also a story about a player that undermines his coach and an owner that supported this action. It’s a story where conspiracy theorists can further back their claims that the NBA is rigged.
Should this story be more about how the Golden State Warriors LOST the finals, rather than how the Cavaliers won it? Case in point:
- The Warriors two best players, most notably the first-ever unanimous MVP Stephen Curry, woefully underperformed throughout the series: Curry averaged 30.1 PPG during the regular season but only 22.6 PPG in the Finals; Klay Thompson averaged 22.1 PPG during the regular season but only 19.6 PPG in the Finals. The combined 9-point differential would’ve won the Championship for the Warriors.
- The Warriors, as a team, shot 40.6% on 3-pointers during the regular season, but only 36.6% in the Finals. That extra 4% (12 points) would’ve also won the Championship for the Warriors.
- In Game 7, the Warriors did not score a single point in the final 4:39 minutes of the game, missing their final 10 shots.
- The Warriors had not lost 3 games in a row all season long, nor had they lost 2 games in a row at home all season long. Both of these happened in the Finals, resulting in the most historical collapse in NBA Finals history.
Our writers debate this, with each side presenting a compelling argument on whether Hollywood should produce a movie about the 2015-2016 Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Championship journey.
Yes – It’s about more than basketball
With every Hollywood movie, the focused character (or group of characters) often overcome setbacks in inspirational ways to finish with a smile. As time expired in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a moment of that magnitude. However, it was greater, because this was real life. As LeBron James and Kevin Love hugged, Kyrie Irving ran over, and The King collapsed to the court in tears. This real life sports fairytale is worthy of a Hollywood movie and here’s why.
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Contributing author: Kenny Brown
No – It’s a feel-good story, and that’s all
What if I told you a town was clinging on to the past of a single moment of glory? That is the premise of ESPN’s 30 for 30 Believeland, which details the struggles of Cleveland’s lack of championships since the Cleveland Browns won the 1964 NFL Championship. Cleveland is representative of the dramatic shift in American society from manufacturing and the American Dream of the 50’s and 60’s to the current struggle of many cities and towns that once depended on those same ideals. No one can deny what this NBA championship means to Cleveland and to Northeast Ohio. However, the narrative of Ohio vs. The World and LeBron vs. The Haters make the storybook ending difficult to convert into a Hollywood film.
Contributing author: Alvin Nguyen
