Cleveland Cavaliers Royalty Transitions From Kings of the NBA to Jokers
From 2008-2010 the Cleveland Cavaliers enjoyed tremendous success throughout the regular season, winning a combined league-best 127 games during the two year span.
With LeBron James as the face of not only the franchise but of the entire NBA, Cleveland received the prestigious honors of airing a total of 51 of its regular season games on national television throughout the two seasons, ranking second to only the Los Angeles Lakers who aired a combined 52 times.
The Cavaliers attendance ranked second in the NBA last season and according to RealGM, when on the road, the Cavaliers routinely sold out arenas with an average increase of 2,500 more fans than on average.
The Cavaliers organization managed to build a prominent fan base around James, bringing in talent upon request to help carry the team to its first NBA Finals trophy.
After LeBron James announced on national television this offseason that he would no longer be a part of his hometown team, Dan Gilbert, the Cavaliers players, and the fans have been forced to transition from Kings of the NBA to Jokers.
With LeBron James' name no longer heard of in the same sentence with the Cleveland Cavaliers (and anti-LeBron t-shirts turning into a Cleveland trend), the NBA has already begun to throw the city of Cleveland to the curb.
On August 3rd the NBA released the marquee games for the 2010-11 season. Out of the 20 games scheduled, the Cavaliers were disappointingly nowhere to be found.
In 2002 (the season before James was drafted), the Cavaliers ranked dead last in the NBA in attendance. With no LeBron James around the team's attendance will quickly begin to plummet.
Looks like the Cavaliers' 15 minutes of fame has officially come to an end.
The Cleveland sports curse lives on and it won't be surprising when Cavalier fans start to lose an interest in the team that once held the key to their hearts.
If you liked this article be sure to read all of Brandon's content at http://www.nbaprimetme.com and follow him on twitter for NBA news updates at http://www.twitter.com/_nbaprimetime
