History against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers

For all those fans who actually believe that the Cavaliers can win the title this year, just realize that history is against them.

There are generally two ways a team can win a title.

The most obvious is the classic one-two punch used by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Shaq and Kobe Bryant. In this scenario both star players need to be superstars.

The second classic is the three-man combo used by the L.A Lakers and Boston Celtics of the '80s, the San Antonio Spurs this decade, and most recently the Celtics last year.

In the three-man combo, not all three need to be superstars as you see with the Spurs' success this decade.

There is also the rare “team” championship, which the Detroit Pistons accomplished in 2004 and the Portland Trail Blazers would have pulled off in 2000 if not for blowing their fourth-quarter lead against the Lakers in Game Seven.

Besides the Houston Rockets in 1994 (thanks to Jordan’s retirement), no team has won a championship with one star in the last 30 years.

Sorry folks, Mo Williams is a very good player but he is not a legitimate star. Even if you think he is, remember that history shows us that a one-two combo can only win a championship if both players are superstars.

Now, I’m not saying that the Cavaliers don’t have good role players supporting LeBron James, because they have one of the best supporting casts in the league. However, the keyword is “supporting.” They are still missing that one other star to help LeBron.

The Cavaliers do have a great foundation to build upon for years to come, and James will most likely win a title eventually. However, Cavaliers fans need to lower the bar this year.

Cavaliers fans are basing their expectations off their great regular season record. In the NBA, certain teams can be built for the regular-season but not for the playoffs. One great player like LeBron can lead a team to a great regular-season record, but in the playoffs the team will ultimately fail.

The Cavaliers in a way remind me of Jordan’s 1989 Bulls, who lost in the Eastern Conference Finals, except with a little better supporting cast. Although Pippen was technically on the team at the time, in his second season he wasn’t close to being a star yet. If Michael Jordan, the greatest of all time, couldn’t do it by himself, how is LeBron going to able to?

It took Jordan seven playoff appearances until he had the team around him to win a championship. Right now LeBron has just clinched his fourth playoff appearance, and I truthfully believe it will take him two or three more years before the Cavaliers are ready to host the Larry O’Brien trophy. (Don’t worry, LeBron James is going to re-sign with the Cavs).

After reading my article, Cavaliers fans are most likely going to accuse me of being a Celtics fan or an anti-Cavaliers fan. However, the truth is I’m just a writer who has respect for the history of the NBA.

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