‘King James’ Can’t Hold Tears Back as Cavaliers Win 1st NBA Title

“I’ve had one goal for two years since I came back to bring a championship to the city,”

More tears. Only this time, tears of joy.

Cleveland’s championship drought, crossing 52 years, generations and noted by a long list of near misses, is over at last.

On Father’s Day, LeBron James, the kid from nearby Akron raised by a single mother, brought the title home.

As the final seconds of Cleveland’s 93-89 victory at Golden State in Game 7 ticked off on the giant scoreboard inside Quicken Loans Arena, 18,000 fans, some of them strangers when Sunday night began, cried, hugged, screamed and shared a moment many of them have spent a lifetime dreaming of.

They then linked arms and shouted the words to Queen’s “We Are The Champions,” a song that only seemed reserved for others.

For the first time since 1964, when the Browns ruled the NFL, Cleveland is a title town again.

Call it The Comeback.

At 10:37 p.m., Cleveland finally exorcised decades of sports demons — the painful losses given nicknames like “The Drive” and “The Fumble” and “The Shot” — and became a title town for the first time since Dec. 27, 1964, when the Browns won the NFL championship. There had been so many close calls in between, so much heartache, so much torture.

Like the Warriors, those days are history.

“I’ve had goal for two years since I came back to bring a championship to the city,” said an emotional James, who returned to the Cavaliers in 2014 after a four-year stint with Miami that included a pair of NBA championships.

“I gave it everything that I had. I poured my heart, my blood, my sweat and my tears into this game.”

James led Cleveland in the championship-clinching with a triple-double as he scored 27 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 11 assists en route to being named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals.

For James, the win not only marks his third NBA title, but it will go down as the single greatest achievement of his storied career as it fulfills his promise to deliver a title to his home state of Ohio.

“I understand what everyone in northeastern Ohio have been through the last 50-plus years and I am happy to be a part of history,” said James, who was in tears as he wrapped his arms around the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

“I can’t wait to get back home. I am ready to get to you guys.”

For the Warriors, who had a record 73 wins during the 82-game regular season, Sunday’s defeat marked the first time since November 2013 that they have lost three consecutive games.

The Warriors were in complete control of the series but were ultimately undone by the disappearance of their high-octane offense, a suspension to defensive stalwart Draymond Green, a season-ending injury to rim-protecting center Andrew Bogut and defensive specialist Andre Iguodala dealing with a balky back.

“I knew what we were capable of, even being down 3-1 versus the greatest regular season team ever,” said James.

“Everybody counted us out and that’s when we strived the most and that’s definitely when I strived the most when everybody counted me out.”

(With inputs from AP and Reuters)