The 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers championship win is one of the most fondly remembered titles in NBA history. LeBron James completed the fairytale story for the Cavs who finally won an NBA Championship when they came back from 3-1 to beat the greatest regular season team in history, the 73-9 Golden State Warriors.
The team looked absolutely done after they went down 3-1 after Game 4. When they went to Oracle Arena for Game 5, Coach Tyronn Lue took $200 from every player and even GM David Griffin and owner Dan Gilbert and hid it in the ceiling at the arena, motivating the players to come back for Game 7 and get it. He told JJ Redick the full story and what he did with the money.
Ty Lue on stashing money in the ceiling after game 5 of the 2016 Finals pic.twitter.com/hHPwfATWBG
— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) October 26, 2022
“Game 4, you know, was a close game but we lost it. But our adjustments was exactly what we needed to do and so, we just had to do them better. We had a couple of mess-ups, and in Game 5, I think, before we got on that plane to go, there, I said, ‘listen, if you don’t believe we can win, stay home.’ I really thought we could win. I didn’t think it was over and then Draymond got suspended for Game 5. We came out, and Kyrie and Bron both had 40. So after Game 5, actually, we were going home for Game 5 and I had everybody in the locker room give me $200. So all the players, Mr. Gilbert, Griff, give me $200. They said, ‘what are you doing with this money and I actually got the video on my phone and I put it in the ceiling and said, ”Are we coming back for Game 7 to get our money? We go to Golden State and win Game 7 and win the championship… The first thing ‘Bron asked me ‘hey man, where’s our money?’ and I said, ‘man, I don’t know. It disappeared.’ I kept that money for myself.”
Multi-millionaire basketball executives and players won’t be worried about the missing $200, but coach Lue easily pocketed $3,400, given the 15-man roster and the two executives named by Lue.
Can The 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers Triumph Ever Be Replicated?
The 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t an underdog team that surprised everyone by being in the position they were in. They were widely expected to dominate the Eastern Conference in the playoffs, despite a regular season where they underachieved, and be a threat to the Warriors, who they lost to last season because of injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
The Warriors were favorites, but people liked Cleveland’s chances until they fell into the 3-1 hole nobody had ever seen overcome in the NBA Finals before. We can’t say that anymore, as LeBron’s Cavs achieved that feat and brought Cleveland its first NBA Championship. It’ll be impossible to replicate this until we see a juggernaut that can lose only single-digit games in a season.
