Write On Sports LLC - "Hangin' at LeBron's coming-out party" by Jake Lloyd

Hangin' at LeBron's coming-out party

2007-05-28 15:48:49 | By: Jake Lloyd

I was a witness.

I was in the house the night LeBron James finally put his team on his back and refused to drop them despite the efforts of the Detroit Pistons.

I was in the stands at the "Q" the night LeBron James hit fadeway 20-footer after fadeaway 20-footer like they were layups.

I was there. Along with thousands of screaming, rhapsodic Cavs fans wearing "Rise Up" red T-shirts, which is exactly what James n' Gang did to defeat the Pistons 88-82 Sunday night and cut Detroit's lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals to 2-1.

And what a spectacle it was.

WHAT AN ATMOSPHERE
The arena was absolutely buzzing even an hour before game time, as the players conducted their shootaround. The Cleveland faithful didn't care that their Cavs were down 2-0 to the Pistons in the series. This was the first time since 1992 that the Cavs were hosting a conference finals game, and the fans were going to make it as tough as possible for Detroit to escape with a road win.

Everywhere I looked, fans held up signs either demonstrating their belief in the Cavs or criticizing TNT's Charles Barkley, who was hard on James after Cleveland's two losses in Auburn Hills. One fan's sign read, "Charles wanna bet(?). Cleveland in 7."

James didn't even make a cameo appearance during the shootaround. But he'd make his presence felt when it counted. This was to be his night.

Cavs firing right out of the gate Boosted by the energy of their fans, the Cavaliers came out rolling. Before you could say "timeout," they had a 6-0 lead.

James, in particular, was a different player than the one we saw in Detroit. He relentlessly attacked the basket, either converting layups/dunks or getting fouled. And he made his free throws, finishing the night 6-for-9 from the stripe.

While Detroit played better than the fan's chants of "Detroit Sucks" might indicate, staying in the game thanks to unexpected first-half contributions from Chris Webber and Flip Murray, I got the sense at halftime, with Cleveland leading 46-43, that this might be LeBron's night.

LEBRON IGNITES HIS TEAMMATES
Boosted by the confidence of a group of energetic Pistons fans in Section 114, where my friend Cosey and I moved down to for the second half, I felt that maybe -- just maybe -- the Pistons could sneak out of the rowdy "Q" with a win.

After all, they were right in the game in the fourth quarter -- and what more can you ask for in a road game? I could sense the tenseness of the Cleveland fans around me. A beer-holding fan almost started a fight with a really pumped up Pistons supporter, but luckily that didn't escalate.

Because the duo would have missed the dunk.

Detroit tied the game at 68-68 on a jumper by Richard Hamilton with just under 8 minutes to play. It was clutch time, and in the first two games of the series, the Pistons had done the rising up in clutch time. I expected Chauncey Billups to step up and nail a big 3-pointer or Wallace, who had rocked his head to the crowd's cheers and jeers all night, to do the same.

Then... what?? James dunked on 'Sheed??

Yeah. Even Cosey, a Pistons supporter, was loving it. "That was tight," he repeated several times as we watched the replay on the jumbotron.

At first, following the dunk, I had motioned to the Cleveland fans to sit back down. It's only two points, I muttered. But as the final minutes played out, I realized that the dunk had been more than a two-point basket. It had been a statement by James, a "We're not gonna back down/play tentative/let you steal this W tonight... no, sir" proclamation.

Detroit would never lead again.

James' dunk rubbed off on his teammates, who appeared the more experienced, more relaxed players on the court as the minutes ticked off the precious clock.

First Zydrunas Ilgauskas made a layup off a feed from James. Then it was Drew Gooden's turn, knocking down the baselinall night as if there was no pressure on him. And then rookie Daniel Gibson, playing more like a veteran, stepped into a contested 3-pointer to give the Cavs a five-point lead.

The "Q" was ready to explode. Fans waved their white towels furiously. The beer-welding Cleveland fan gave a harsh stare at the Pistons fans sitting around us (we were inconspicuously dressed in plain garb, so no one was exactly sure who we were pulling for).

It was almost over. But not quite. James still had to finish the Pistons.

DELIVERING IN THE CLUTCH
It's hard to fathom just how much pressure is on the shoulders of the 22-year-old James -- that's right, 22 years old.

Before the game, Cosey and I circled the "Q," noticing the gigantic "We are Witnesses" Nike sign of James kitty corner from the arena. The black painting, which takes up the entire side of a building, shows just how much the city of Cleveland has invested in the kid.

I didn't keep an official count, but I must have seen at least 657 LeBron James jerseys Sunday night. I might have seen one Drew Gooden jersey. Red, white, orange, yellow, his high school green -- everybody had a different style of jersey. But they all had the No. 23 on the back.

Cleveland hasn't won a championship since the Browns did in 1964. The Cavaliers have never reached the NBA Finals in the 37 years they've been in the NBA. The baseball Indians haven't won the World Series since 1948.

So you can imagine how hungry the city's fans are for a championship. And just how much pressure there is on James, the face of Cleveland sports – sorry, Grady Sizemore; sorry, Brady Quinn..

He was the most hyped player to ever enter the NBA. And he's lived up to the hype. Except in the postseason.

Until Sunday night.

With the Pistons threatening Cleveland's tenuous lead in the final moments. With all five Detroit defenders focusing on King James... he wasn't bothered. There was no clear path for him to get to the basket, so finally he showed the confidence in his outside jumper that was lacking the first two games.

James made a 17-footer and a 25-foot 3-pointer, sandwiched around an Ilgauskas 18-footer, to give Cleveland a commanding 84-76 lead.

Of course the veteran Pistons, led by Billups, fought back, however. Billups converted a layup and a very, very difficult fadeaway (he was basically falling down), sandwiched around two Hamilton free throws, to cut Cleveland's lead back to two points with more than half a minute remaining, putting the pressure back on who else?

James.

THE FINAL POSSESSION
Only one thing was clear as LeBron James dribbled the ball outside the 3-point arc, facing us, the TNT crew and thousands of other anxious fans, most of whom sported the "Rise Up" T-shirts.

He wanted the ball in his hands.

In a way, the situation reminded me of Game 2, when James took the ball to the basket but missed a running jumper. He didn't look like he was sure what to do with the ball. He knew the double-team was coming.

But then, as he drove to his right, it appeared that something clicked in his head. It was as if he realized, Hey, I don't have to make the spectacular, spinning, reverse layup. An off-balance jumper will do. All that matters is the ball floating through the net.

And that's exactly what James did. He awkwardly pulled up for a jump shot, nailed it and the crowd breathed a huge sigh of relief. The King had come to the rescue.

A couple Detroit misses, a couple Gooden free throws later, the Cavs were just a game down in the series. And everyone -- at least, mostly everyone -- could drive home happy.

Minutes after the final buzzer had sounded, as TNT's crew of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Barkley and Reggie Miller was doing it postgame show, a fan let Barkley hear it.

"LeBron's better than you (were), Charles," the man yelled countless times.

Eventually the man would be escorted toward the exits by security, but he had made his point loud and clear.

Sunday night at the "Q" was LeBron James' comiSomething I'm sure even Barkley will admit.

Post a comment