Seth Rosenthal

It’s 2011. For Michael Jordan, the year ahead will be a very strange one. Once a player who could seemingly deliver championships through sheer force of will, the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats is finally developing the one skill he had always denied himself: patience. Nothing about that is easy, and nothing about the lovable, unforgettable 2011-2012 Bobcats will be easy. But as much as he despises losing, Mike has always seemed to love the struggle.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have died several times victim of their own bad choices. Yet here they stand, alive, about to win a championship. To understand how much this means we need to rewind, like really, really rewind.

After decades defined by owners, GMs, and opponents, the 21st century ushered in an era of Cleveland Cavaliers history commanded by one man. First, the Cavaliers chose the homegrown prodigy with a lucky lottery ticket. When they failed him, he departed ... then chose to return, assembling the team that reached the precipice of a championship at the moment we find them in 2016. Let's remember how that all happened. Let's talk about LeBron James.