The end of the NBA in Cleveland?

Well, I think I have to post something about the game 5 debacle last night. In today's sports world with the media, it's easy to overstate events. (An 80-79 OT college basketball game is instantly declared the "Game of the decade!")

But it's easy to see how the game 5 disaster can lead to the end of the NBA in Cleveland....and a vastly different landscape for Cleveland sports.

Reality hit hard last night that Game 5 could - and probably will be - LeBron's last game in Cleveland. If they don't survive against Boston, this is now two seasons where they didn't even reach the conference finals. THey didn't even make the final 4!!!!

Can you imagine if they lost in a blowout in game 6? Why would LeBron stay? Can anyone give me one good reason why he would stick around? Has his actions so far indicated that he would?

It has been written in an article that Cleveland fans "expect the worst, and then worry if they are being too optimistic". That has a lot of truth to it. What are the next dominoes to fall if/when LeBron leaves this summer?

First, let's fill people in on the Cleveland sports pecking order. The Browns will always be #1. The Indians are a clear #2. The Cavs are #3 - and in many cases, are #4 behind the Buckeyes. No one will care about this team. I will be done with the NBA for a long time - not that I was the biggest fan - but I will actively diengage.

Part of me - just part - is secretly happy the Cavs are folding. As you know, the city is starving for a title. I want to see a championship sometime in my life. If I am going to dream, why not shoot for the moon? In order, if I had a choice, my rank of the "worth" of championships is:
1. Browns
2. Indians
3. Cavs

The Browns and the Tribe are a close 1-2; Steve would switch the 2; I'm not sure how Don would rate them. But I am positive that the joy we would have in a Cavs title would be dwarfed by a Browns Super Bowl. So if I'm only going to get one title in my life, why not want it to be the greatest title ever?

Anyway - back to the present. If LeBron leaves, the Cavs will not win 70 games in the next 3 seasons combined. We will go back to the late 90s pre-LeBron Cavs, where Randy Wittman was our coach, Shawn Kemp was our best player and our record was 25-57. No one will care. Games will routinely have 5,000 people.

I think it would be an even money bet to see if the Cavs would be playing in Cleveland in 2015. They would be in a 20 year old arena (wow, now I am old), worth absolutely nothing with a team that is pathetic. I would wager on a move to Kansas City.

Which then means - what is the city of Cleveland going to do between December and April? um - debate who the #1 QB would be for the Browns, which is an annual event? Ha ha.

It opens up the way for a three-person partnership (me, Steve, and Kermit) to buy the Tampa Bay Lightning and move them to Cleveland for the 2019 season.