That's what Cavalier fans need to do as their team heads to the Finals. Because it's been 54,000 years since the last major Cleveland sports franchise won a title, there's a tendency to think, "I'm just going to be disappointed again, so why get my hopes up?"
Or perhaps you fell into the trap like many others when LeBron James returned to the Cavs ... thinking they are SUPPOSED to be in the Finals.
Really? That sounds like a Yankee fan. Or a Celtic fan. Or a fan infected with the disease of entitlement because their favorite team has won so much for so long.
But this is Cleveland.
Maybe it sounded trite when James wrote in his Sports Illustrated letter about returning: "In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned." James grew up in Akron. He spent his first seven years with the Cavs. He went to the Finals once, getting swept by San Antonio in 2007.
In 2009, my favorite team of the first James Era was 66-16, best in the NBA in the regular season. It swept Detroit and Atlanta to make the Eastern Conference Finals. It was upset by Orlando.
No one saw that coming. That's why James took exception to a media member suggesting the Cavs "were supposed to be" in this year's Finals.
"We're not supposed to be here," he said. "We earned the right to be here. We work our tails off every single day. We commit to one another and sacrifice for one another."
That's why James was so emotional immediately after the game. He is from Northeast Ohio. More than any of his teammates and coaches, he understands what this means to the fans.
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