The Franchise: Lebron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers

Award-winning sports journalist Terry Pluto and NBA beat writer Brian Windhorst (both of the Akron Beacon Journal) give us an in-depth look at how a team and a city are being rebuilt around superstar LeBron James. When the Cleveland Cavaliers won the top pick in the 2003 NBA draft, an entire city exhaled. How often does a LeBron James come along? Especially for Cleveland, a midmarket rustbelt city without a sports championship in fifty years, and for the Cavaliers, a team that had never reached the NBA finals. Now, everyone has a stake in LeBron: Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who bought the team because of the young star. Teammates counting on him for a championship ring. Nike and the NBA, looking for the next Michael Jordan to promote. The fans and downtown business owners and Cleveland civic leaders . . . even the popcorn vendors--everyone has something riding on this one guy. Chock full of facts and analysis.