Do you remember the day leading up to LeBron James' first regular-season game back in Cleveland in late October? Cavaliers fans claimed that celebrities like Justin Bieber, Drake, and even Beyoncé were roaming the streets in the 216 in the hours leading up to tip-off at Quicken Loans Arena. And the general feeling was that nothing was going to stop the Cavs from having their best season ever. They had LeBron. They had Kevin Love. They had Kyrie Irving. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
It didn't take long for Cavs fans to find out the answer to that question. On opening night, their team lost to the Knicks. Less than a week later, a report emerged indicating that LeBron and Kyrie weren't getting along. And ever since then, the Cavs' season has been like one long Cedar Point roller coaster ride—one week they're riding high on a winning streak, the next LeBron and Love are beefing through the media. So as the Cavs prepare to play their final regular-season game against the Wizards tonight, we thought we'd take a look back at how this year has gone for the team. These are The Highs and Lows of LeBron James' First Regular Season Back in Cleveland.
Do you remember the day leading up to LeBron James' first regular-season game back in Cleveland in late October? Cavaliers fans claimed that celebrities like Justin Bieber, Drake, and even Beyoncé were roaming the streets in the 216 in the hours leading up to tip-off at Quicken Loans Arena. And the general feeling was that nothing was going to stop the Cavs from having their best season ever. They had LeBron. They had Kevin Love. They had Kyrie Irving. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
It didn't take long for Cavs fans to find out the answer to that question. On opening night, their team lost to the Knicks. Less than a week later, a report emerged indicating that LeBron and Kyrie weren't getting along. And ever since then, the Cavs' season has been like one long Cedar Point roller coaster ride—one week they're riding high on a winning streak, the next LeBron and Love are beefing through the media. So as the Cavs prepare to play their final regular-season game against the Wizards tonight, we thought we'd take a look back at how this year has gone for the team. These are The Highs and Lows of LeBron James' First Regular Season Back in Cleveland.
HIGH: Cavaliers fans welcome LeBron back with open arms.
Date: 10/30/2014
The intro video! The chalk toss! The electricity surging through Quicken Loans Arena! HE'S BAAAAAAACK!
HIGH: The Cavaliers respond to their season-opening loss to the Knicks by beating Derrick Rose and the Bulls.
Date: 10/31/2014
Forget that loss to the Knicks. PUT THE CAVS IN THE NBA FINALS NOW!
LOW: LeBron and Kyrie Irving reportedly exchange words following a loss to the Trail Blazers.
Date: 11/5/2014
Does LeBron have a problem with some of his new teammates? This will soon become a season-long theme.
LOW: The Nuggets' Twitter account trolls LeBron, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving.
Date: 11/6/2014
Shouting out every Cavs player exceptLeBron, Love, and Kyrie? Bad for Cleveland, great for Denver's spot on our list of NBA Twitter accounts.
HIGH: LeBron scores 32 against the Hawks—one night after scoring 41 against the Celtics—to lead the Cavaliers to their fourth straight win.
Date: 11/15/2014
After starting off the season 1-3, the Cavs rebounded to win their next four games.
LOW: LeBron acknowledges that he wants less playing time for himself, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving.
Date: 11/19/2014
Looking back at it now, this was an early indication that LeBronwasn't in total agreement with the way his new head coach David Blatt was running the team.
HIGH: Gregg Popovich compares LeBron to Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Tim Duncan.
Date: 11/19/2014
The Cavaliers were in the middle of a four-game losing streak here. But we still imagine it was nice for LeBron to hear Pop say, "He understands the game the way Magic did, the way Larry did, the way Duncan does."
LOW: LeBron commits a turnover against the Spurs to lose a nationally-televised game.
Date: 11/19/2014
Welp. After Gregg Popovich says all those nice things about you, you go and do this, LeBron?
LOW: LeBron gets caught cursing at a teammate during a blowout loss against the Raptors.
Date: 11/22/2014
This is what happens when you have high hopes for your season and you get off to a 5-7 start.
HIGH: LeBron meets Prince William and Kate Middleton after knocking off the Nets.
Date: 12/8/2014
The King meets the Prince—and he does it after winning for the seventh time in a row.
HIGH: LeBron scores 35 points against the Raptors as the Cavaliers win their eighth straight game.
Date: 12/9/2014
From 5-7 to 13-7, real quick. At this point, it looked like the Cavs were back on the right track.
LOW: ESPN's Brian Windhorst publishes a story that features several NBA scouts talking about how LeBron's athleticism has declined.
Date: 12/12/2014
One day after their eight-game winning streak is snapped by the Thunder, Windhorst drops an explosive report. LeBron's response? "I'm not the 18-year-old kid that I was before."
LOW: The Cavaliers get destroyed at home against the Hawks, and LeBron gets angry at a reporter.
Date: 12/17/2014
LeBron didn't like the "negative question" the reporter asked. He also didn't like losing to the Hawks by 29.
LOW: Andrew Wiggins says Kobe Bryant is harder to defend than LeBron.
Date: 12/24/2014
Wiggins had only been in the league for six months at this point. So he was talking about 2014-15 Kobe, not 2004-05 Kobe.
LOW: Victor Oladipo dunks on LeBron.
Date: 12/26/2014
Maybe there's actually something to that Windhorst report after all.
LOW: An NBA.com video that appears to show LeBron telling Dwyane Wade that he wants to "reunite and do some bigger and better things" next season emerges.
Date: 12/31/2014
Is D-Wade going to join the Cavaliers next season? Is LeBron going back to Miami? Did they really just say what we think they said? WE NEED ANSWERS!
LOW: The Cavaliers announce that LeBron will miss two weeks with back and knee problems.
Date: 1/1/2015
This followed blowout losses to the Pistons, Hawks, and Bucks. If Cavs fans weren't worried before, they were now.
HIGH: The Cavaliers complete a trade that helps them land J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert.
Date: 1/5/2015
Help is on the way!
LOW: Joel Embiid trolls LeBron James on Twitter.
Date: 1/5/2015
If only LeBronhad decided to join the 76ers instead of the Cavs…
HIGH: LeBron returns to the court after spending two weeks in Miami rehabilitating his back and knees.
Date: 1/13/2015
The Cavs went 1-5 during LeBron's absence. Think they missed him?
LOW: LeBron pushes David Blatt away from a referee during a brief confrontation.
Date: 1/13/2015
Another sign that all wasn't well between LeBron and Blatt.
LOW: LeBron misses a dunk and gets caught playing awful defense during a game against the Lakers.
Date: 1/16/2015
LEBRON, DO YOU REALIZE THAT PEOPLE ARE QUESTIONING YOUR ATHLETICISM?
HIGH: LeBron and the Cavaliers win their 12th straight game against the Clippers.
Date: 2/5/2015
After losing in LeBron's first game back from injury on January 13, the Cavs reeled off 12 straight wins. LeBron was the team's high scorer in six of them.
LOW: LeBron admits to taking a shot at Kevin Love on Twitter—and then tries to take it back.
Date: 2/7/2015
We don't know what was worse: LeBronadmitting to taking a shot at his teammate, or LeBrontrying to blame the media for manufacturing a shot that he admitted to taking? Either way, this was a sign of (bad) things to come.
HIGH: LeBron gets elected to be the first Vice President of the NBA Players Association.
Date: 2/13/2015
This had nothing to do with the Cavs' season. But it was a nice personal victory for LeBron.
HIGH: LeBron scores a season-high 42 points during an impressive win against the Warriors.
Date: 2/26/2015
This was a statement win…and a possible NBA Finals preview?
LOW: LeBron misses critical free throws during a loss to the Rockets and gets trolled by Houston's Twitter account.
Date: 3/1/2015
Somehow, getting nailed in the nuts by James Harden was one of the better things that happened to LeBron during this game.
LOW: LeBron takes an embarrassing mirror selfie and posts it on Instagram.
Date: 3/2/2015
The response to this photo was…not good.
HIGH: LeBron scores 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Cavaliers to a win against the Raptors.
Date: 3/4/2015
Jonas Valanciunas tackled LeBron on a drive in the fourth quarter. LeBron responded by tearing the Raptors' defense up.
LOW: LeBron says, "I suck," after a nine-turnover game against the Hawks.
Date: 3/7/2015
[nods in agreement] If the Cavaliers should worry about one team during the playoffs, it's Atlanta. The Hawks have had their number this season.
HIGH: LeBron plays without a headband and helps the Cavaliers destroy the Mavericks.
Date: 3/10/2015
Why doesn't he play without a headband every game?
LOW: Pat Riley admits that he still doesn't understand why LeBron left the Heat to return to the Cavaliers.
Date: 3/12/2015
LOW: LeBron catches members of the media taking semi-nude photos of him in the locker room.
Date: 3/16/2015
Are you surprised that this happened after a game back in Miami?
LOW: Kevin Love admits he would pick Russell Westbrook as his NBA MVP over LeBron.
Date: 3/24/2015
Just in case you'd forgotten about those pesky "LeBron and Love don't get along" rumors from earlier in the season. A report was also released around this time indicating LeBron was "frustrated" with Love.
LOW: LeBron says he has three "very good friends" in the NBA and that none of them play for the Cavaliers.
Date: 3/31/2015
LeBron doesn't have to get along with everyone he plays with, but...
LOW: ESPN's Brian Windhorst reveals that LeBron calls a lot of the Cavaliers' plays and that LeBron quit on the Cavaliers prior to his two-week break in early January.
Date: 3/31/2015
Calling the plays is one thing. But quitting on his team? Yikes.
HIGH: LeBron records his first triple-double of the season against the Bulls.
Date: 4/5/2015
LeBron scores 20 points, grabs 10 rebounds, records 12 assists, and makes Joakim Noah very, very angry. Look out if the Cavaliers and Bulls meet in the playoffs.
HIGH: LeBron records his second triple-double of the season against the Pistons.
Date: 4/13/2015
After the game, J.R. Smith calls him "the real MVP." And as they prepare to head into the playoffs, Cavaliers fans hope the lows are finally over.
