Austin Carr, who goes by "Mr. Cavalier," knows a thing or two about Cleveland's sports history. None of the city's professional sports teams have won a title since 1964. In the nine seasons he played for the Cavaliers starting in 1971-72, the farthest they got was the Eastern Conference finals. The color commentator who has been a part of Cleveland's TV broadcasts since 1997 saw how close LeBron James got to his goal before he left for the Miami Heat, and he understands how much it would mean for him to win a championship now.
From Yahoo Sports' Marc Spears:
"They would build a bronze statue in front of every building in the city," said former Cavs All-Star guard Austin Carr, who played on a Cleveland team that lost to the Boston Celtics in the 1976 Eastern Conference finals. "For him to bring it back here, especially the first year back, he would rise above anybody that has ever played in any sport in this town."
The latter part shouldn't even be up for debate. James should already be considered the most important athlete in Cleveland history. The first bit, though? A bronze statue in front of every building in the city? That would be amazing. Think of what it would do for tourism -- fans would race to try to take selfies in front of all of them. Also, Damian Lillard would be terrified of playing there. I'm all-in on this plan.
