First published 2017
LeBron James shocked the basketball world when he abandoned Miami's championship machine to return to Cleveland. The Cavaliers scrambled to build a contender around their returning superstar, orchestrating clandestine negotiations to acquire Kevin Love from Minnesota. When the team fired coach David Blatt despite leading their division, questions swirled about who really controlled the franchise. The Cavaliers entered the 2016 Finals as underdogs against the record-setting Golden State Warriors. After falling behind three games to one, Cleveland faced elimination and the prospect of another heartbreaking failure. Players, executives, agents, and owners reveal the private conversations and critical decisions that shaped basketball's most improbable comeback. The series culminated in a winner-take-all Game Seven that would either validate LeBron's homecoming or confirm Cleveland's cursed fate. Two reporters who covered every twist of this remarkable season provide unprecedented access to locker room tensions, front office maneuvering, and the personal stakes that drove each participant in this championship quest.
Genres: business, sports, biography-memoir, 21st-century, basketball, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: comeback, underdog
Setting: Cleveland, Miami, Minnesota
Period: 2016
288 pages · ebook · Grand Central Publishing