CLEVELAND (AP) – Once he congratulated Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, LeBron James left the floor following Game 5 and found Kyrie Irving waiting for him.
Cleveland’s two stars embraced, and as they headed toward the locker room and Queen’s “We Are the Champions” played inside thundering Oakland’s Oracle Arena, James delivered a message to his teammate and the world.
“We’ll be back,” he said. “We’ll be back.”
They were fabulous and flawed defending NBA champs, their deficiencies in depth and defense exposed by a superior team in the Finals.
One year after their historic comeback, James and the Cavaliers couldn’t catch the Golden State Warriors.