CLEVELAND — For the last two decades, there have only been truly two incarnations of the Cleveland Cavaliers: the team with LeBron James, and the team without.
With James, the franchise has seen its greatest heights, including a 2016 title that the city still treasures. Without James, the Cavaliers have succumbed to the city’s overall history of futility, and James has rubbed it in by winning almost every time he marches in with a visiting team.
But after 20 years, a new era of hope might be emerging for Cavaliers basketball even without their homegrown star. And unfortunately for James, the Lakers experienced the rising tide firsthand in a 116-102 loss on Tuesday night.
