One year ago, guys like Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith weren’t just like-able fan favorites. They were Cleveland legends and heroes in the city’s sports history.
Fans cried along with J.R. through their TV screens watching him reflect on what it meant to win a championship for his parents.
Fans chanted for RJ to play one more year and practically begged him to come back during the Championship Celebration.
Frye went from a guy who was brought in to replace fan favorite Anderson Varejao to quickly winning over the city’s hearts.
Fans praised “Double T” for his heart, hustle, and rebounding, constantly pointing out how “underrated” he was.
Don’t forget, Cleveland’s fan base, along with LeBron, played a role in pressuring Dan Gilbert to hand big contracts to Smith and Thompson.
Where are those guys now?
They’re receiving justifiable criticism from the same fan base, but also have been called “bums” and much worse than that in the last eight days.
What a difference a year makes.
The play on the court is indefensible, kind of like how the Golden State Warriors have been for Cleveland’s defense.
But let’s take a step back.
Friday night’s Game 4 may very well be the final time guys like Jefferson, Frye, James Jones, and possibly other members of Cleveland’s heroic 2016 Championship Team play in front of their home fans.
Do we really want them to remember their final appearance in front of Cavs fans as the night they were booed off the floor for under performing in the Finals?
If the Cavs win, we won’t have to worry about that happening tonight, but all you have to do is spend thirty seconds on Twitter to see some egg trashing Cleveland’s only champions in 52 years.
That doesn’t mean people should feel sorry for the Cavs. Trust me, no one is more pissed about how this series is going than the players themselves.
They’re going to spend all offseason and probably longer than that thinking about what could have been done better.
But Cleveland, in a world where we are so quick to throw someone to the curb for what they haven’t done for us lately, let’s remember that these guys are people who represented our city with class, dignity, and each of them really felt like “one of us” during last year’s summer celebration.
Smith getting a call from the President to put a shirt on.
Love busting out the WWE Belt.
If those guys or any members of the Cavs are traded or released this offseason, it’ll be a new direction for the franchise, but let’s not pretend like they weren’t beloved members of Cleveland’s community.
It’s easy to get caught up in the present and it’s been a frustrating time for people who love the Cavs and are worried about their team’s chances of another title.
But if this is the last time we see some of Cleveland’s legendary sports heroes on our home floor tonight, I’m expecting the fans to handle it like the “self-proclaimed best fans in the world” would.
It hasn’t been pretty. It’s not going to be a fun summer. It will very likely be the start of a new-look Cavs team. But let’s show some respect to these guys on their way out.
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