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An in-depth look at how a team and a city were rebuilt around LeBron James . . .
When the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the top pick in the 2003 NBA draft, the entire city buzzed with excitement. How often does a superstar come along? Especially for Cleveland, a midmarket Rust Belt city without a sports championship in forty years. Especially for the Cavaliers, a long-struggling team that had never reached the NBA finals.
Soon, everyone had something riding on LeBron: a billionaire team owner wanting a return on his investment . . . teammates eager for a championship ring . . . the league looking for the next Michael Jordan to promote . . . the shoe company with its record-breaking endorsement deal . . . even popcorn vendors in the stands of Quicken Loans Arena and servers waiting tables at downtown restaurants.
Award-winning sports journalists Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst tell the converging stories of a struggling franchise and a hometown teenage phenom. This book will fascinate any basketball fan who wants the inside story of how LeBron James became the young superstar shouldering the weight of an entire NBA franchise.
- Sales Rank: #544281 in Books
- Published on: 2015-01-30
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x .45" w x 5.50" l, .40 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 192 pages
Review
Not your typical sports biography . . . Take[s] the reader behind the scenes in the Cavaliers’ front office, revealing how championship contenders are built (often, as in Cleveland’s case, by trading or selling as many players from a mediocre team as possible to save enough money and become bad enough to secure a number-one draft choice to land a player who might become the team’s savior). (Jim Burns Library Journal 2008-05-01)
Windhorst and Pluto chronicle the life and times of a superstar in the making. They’re particularly insightful in describing the big-money shoe endorsement squabble between Reebok, Nike, and Adidas—summarized neatly in an exchange between Adidas’ Sonny Vaccaro and Nike’s Phil Knight at one of James’ games . . . An informative study of how one individual has changed the marketing landscape for professional athletes—and resurrected a Midwestern city that was dying for a star. (BleacherReport.com 2008-04-14)
A fast break the moment that you open the book. Pluto and Windhorst double team James, as only they can and give you accurate, detailed information that only adds to the legacy of the young Superstar. The final chapter of this young man’s career hasn’t been written but the journey up to now has sure been excited and we are all “Witnesses”. (Wesley Chism BlackAthlete.net 2009-09-29)
Highly recommended to sports fans and analysts who want a wide ranging look at today’s NBA. (Midwest Book Review 2008-05-01)
Flows quickly and smoothly with facts, analysis and interesting insight into the life of “King James”. It is an intriguing and somewhat nostalgic recap for those who have followed the Cavs loyally. New fans will enjoy this book as a celebration of the life of a super-achieving athlete playing in an underdog city. (Cleveland Magazine 2008-01-01)
Anybody with access to the NBA’s highlight reel knows how well James plays. But fans know less about how teams are constructed, dismantled, and reconstructed, and how challenging it must be to build a group comprised of stars, role players, has-beens, deluded rookies, born-agains, and self-absorbed wackos into a team that wins a lot more often than it loses. “The Franchise” gives us a look at that process. (Bill Littlefield National Public Radio 2008-02-09)
Offers about as close to an insider’s perspective of events as possible. Pluto, a sports columnist for the Plain Dealer and the author of more than 20 sports books, brings decades of experience to the project . . . Windhorst has been covering this story since well before Lebron appeared on the national media radar, gaining access, and it shows. (Alex Rubin Free Times 2007-01-30)
About the Author
Terry Pluto is a sports columnist for The Plain Dealer. He has twice been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the nation’s top sports columnist for medium-sized newspapers. He is a nine-time winner of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year award and has received more than 50 state and local writing awards. In 2005 he was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame. He is the author of 23 books, including The Curse of Rocky Colavito (selected by the New York Times as one of the five notable sports books of 1989), and Loose Balls, which was ranked number 13 on Sports Illustrated’s list of the top 100 sports books of all time. He was called “Perhaps the best American writer of sports books,” by the Chicago Tribune in 1997.
Brian Windhorst covers the NBA for ESPN.com. His writing has been honored by the Professional Basketball Writers Association and the Associated Press. He has also written for The Plain Dealer and The Beacon Journal. He earned a degree in journalism from Kent State University in 2000. He lives in Brook Park, Ohio, and Jupiter, Florida.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
“The kind of guy other teams want” Getting The Guy
A puff of smoke . . .
That’s what you see coming from the hands of LeBron James before every game.
A big, white, fluffy puff of dreamy smoke.
It happens when James walks over to the scorer’s table seconds before the opening jump ball. He pours resin in his hands, quickly rubs them together, then sends his hands to the heavens, pulling them apart wide as the resin heads to the ceiling. It’s the same pregame ritual Michael Jordan performed for years with the Chicago Bulls. Just as Jordan wore No. 23 and had a shoe contract with Nike, so does James. It’s a tribute to the player he most admired while growing up in Akron.
On this night, the puff of smoke went up before Game 6 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals. The Cleveland Cavaliers were facing the Detroit Pistons at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. Northeast Ohio was in a frenzy, the Cavs one victory away from their first-ever appearance in the NBA Finals. Their first in 37 years. Their first with LeBron James, who was only 22. Their first of many? Some fans dared to dream just that―that this was just the start of something big. Just like the white puff of smoke as James raised his hands and the white power expanded and floated up, up, up and away. Eyes closed, arms fully extended, sound and light and energy pouring over him. It was as if he and the thirsty fans from his hometown were locked in an embrace.
On this night, something magic would happen. This was more than a basketball game, it was a sports romance. Try to think of another franchise being led out of the sports wilderness by a homegrown player. It would be as if Jordan had come from suburban Chicago instead of Wilmington, North Carolina. Or Larry Bird coming from Boston instead of French Lick, Indiana. Or Magic Johnson being a Los Angeles native rather than growing up in Michigan. Or Mickey Mantle in the Bronx, or Tom Brady in New England. It just doesn’t happen, a superstar shouldering the dreams of his hometown as James did that night.
As the smoke rose from James, the fans at mid-court roared. He took it in, maybe not quite believing it all himself. James was born to a teenage single mother and spent much of his youth in the projects and on the streets. He could tell you of guys from his neighborhood who had been shot, guys in jail, guys just lost. He could look under the basket and see his mother, Gloria, in the prime seats, along with his girlfriend Savannah and their young son, LeBron Jr. They are a part of his dream. They’ll never be hungry, never have to worry about a place to live, never wonder if someone will shut off the heat or electricity.
Sitting right behind James at mid-court was Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers. He watches the games from directly behind the press table―not close to the benches but near the public address broadcaster and those in charge of game presentation: the pregame fireworks, video screen, the sound effects. James is part of his dream. A $375 million dream, because that’s what he paid for the franchise in 2005―probably twice what it was worth before James joined the team in 2003.
Gordon Gund was listening to this game, and he’s a part of the dream, too. He can only imagine what James looked like, muscles rippling, anxious sweat steaming off his forehead as he threw that white powder to the sky. Gund is blind. His eyes at the game are the words of Cavaliers radio broadcaster Joe Tait. This was 2007, nearly 24 years since Gund bought the team from Ted Stepien and saved it for Cleveland. He made that $375 million deal with Gilbert for the sale of the team, but kept 15 percent. He longed to be a part of this night, when the Cavs finally had right guy at the right time.
Basketball is really about getting the right guy.
As Cavaliers veteran point guard Eric Snow once said, “You either have The Guy, or you are trying to get The Guy. In LeBron, we have the kind of guy that other teams want to get.”
Getting The Guy . . .
So often, Cleveland fans have seen their guys leave to free agency or trades. Heck, the entire Cleveland Browns team left for three years―when Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore. Or their teams tried to get the guy, but he turned out to be the wrong guy as happened with the Cavs and Shawn Kemp and Danny Ferry.
But now, Ferry was a part of the dream, too.
After a sometimes frustrating playing career with the Cavs, Ferry is the guy hired by Gilbert to make it work for LeBron James. When Ferry left the team in the summer of 2000, he was respected for his work ethic and his relentless determination to transform himself into a viable NBA player, but he still is known by many Cavs fans as the guy who came in the Ron Harper trade, perhaps the worst deal in franchise history. Now, Ferry is the guy making the trades, and fans were glad to have him back.
Getting The Guy . . .
This night was not about dreams going up in a puff of smoke. It wasn’t about a poll in 2006, when ESPN named Cleveland No. 1 in its fan misery index. The fans didn’t lose LeBron, perhaps the greatest athlete ever to be born and raised in the working-class neighborhoods of Northeast Ohio. He had just signed a contract extension in summer of 2006, meaning he is committed to the franchise at least until the summer of 2010. He had defied the odds, by not only staying home to play but by overcoming curses and critics to enliven a dying team and inspire a depressed fan base. Every seat in the arena on the mild June night was filled and he was the reason why. They had been filled all season, the Cavs breaking team records for sellouts and overall attendance. Outside, in a large plaza next to the arena, thousands more squeezed in together to watch the game on giant video screens provided by the team. Just four years earlier, the Cavs had attracted the fewest fans in the NBA. Thousands of them were wearing James’ replica jersey in an array of colors and perhaps hundreds of thousands more were in bars, in their homes, or even on their jobs doing the same.
Getting The Guy . . .
Talk to the people selling hot dogs and T-shirts, those who own the restaurants and nightclubs around the arenas―they all will tell you LeBron has made their life better. Not just because he gives fans reason to cheer, but he makes people happy. The team wins, he scores, fans buy stuff―and the vendors make more money than they did before they had The Guy that forever changed this franchise.
Getting The Guy . . .
Across the court, Marv Albert welcomed a national television audience to the broadcast as James went through his popular pregame maneuver. Before James came, the Cavs hadn’t been on national television in more than three years. In the 2006–07 season, more than 50 games were on national TV. As the fans cheered and the cameras recorded, more than 300 media members settled into position to document the historic night, just four years after two of the three newspapers that followed the Cavs stopped even covering their road games due to lack of interest. The side of a nearby building in downtown was covered in a Nike ad for James, a spectacle that was so well received and photographed that the mayor had declared it public art so it could be protected. Dozens more surrounding buildings were covered with signs and banners cheering on the once forgotten team. In a courtside box, the new billionaire owner who had bought new seats for the fans and a new video board to show James highlights on, took in the scene. All of them and more tied together in a package of success and money by the young man’s talent and the smile and the puffs of magic smoke.
Getting The Guy . . .
This was a great night for Nike, the shoe company that won the biggest corporate battle for any amateur athlete to be its company spokesman. Nike bet more than $100 million that there would be days like this, when an 18-year-old from Akron would become one of the NBA’s elite players, an international celebrity, a savvy salesman for shoes and clothes. They never said it, but they want him to be their next Jordan, and James was coming off a Jordanesque performance in Game 5 of these Eastern Conference Finals with Detroit, scoring 29 of his team’s last 30 points as the Cavaliers prevailed in double-overtime, 109-107. James put 48 points next to his name in the box score that night, and was utterly unstoppable. Jump shots, driving shots, slashing shots and slam dunks. Left hand, right hand―and sometimes, fans swore he did it with no hands. The ball just went from him into the basket. Cavs fans had never seen a performance like this because they never had a player like this. No matter how hard their franchise tried, it was never able to get The Guy.
Then through a white puff of smoke came LeBron James, on to the court, the hearts of fans beating little faster. To Cavs fans, he’s their guy―The Guy. Who’d ever have dared dream it?
[Excerpted from The Franchise, © Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst. All rights reserved. Gray & Company, Publishers.]
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Good Book, Good Insight.
By M. J. Yates
This book was great at providing background information on the Cavaliers in the pre-James era. It also gave great insight into the courting of James by shoe companies. It didn't give enough information in the years since acquiring James and it was poorly written with dozens of typos. Other than that, if you enjoy Lebron or are interested in learning just how much he has revolutionized a franchise, it is a worthy reading.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
It takes more than one player --
By kellytwo
It used to be a game. Not any more. Once the players pass the age of about six or so, basketball (and probably every other major league sport, as well) becomes BIG Business, married without redemption to Entertainment. It's best not to forget that fact while you rejoice in the wonder that is LeBron James. HE certainly gets it! Apparently, he enjoys it all immensely, while never losing his head over it all. He seems to have been born to be a celebrity, as well as one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. And he's barely twenty-three, which coincidentally, is the number on his uniform!
This book by Cleveland sportswriter Terry Pluto and Akron's Brian Windhorst analyzes the Cleveland Cavaliers in every way imaginable throughout the team's 38-year-old history, with very special attention paid to the last seven years. If you have ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in a major league team office, here's your guide. You will learn some amazing things, such as how to tear apart a team that's just slightly started on the slippery slope downward, in order to build up a hopefully better one that will be capable of pursuing championships in a legitimate way. It makes for fascinating reading.
And to think, it's all happening right here-in Cleveland!
Chapter Ten, which describes in minute detail the events of the Lottery evening in New Jersey, could not be more tense or suspense-laden if it were an Alfred Hitchcock movie! And if you remember that evening, you'll rejoice all over again, as Cleveland-finally!-got the grand prize.
There's an entire chapter devoted to Carlos Boozer. You can judge for yourself who was honorable and who wasn't as a result of that debacle. If you've followed the team during these last years (and who locally hasn't?) you'll find all the familiar players and coaches, as well as some maybe not-quite-so-familiar names. It's truly fascinating, if for no other reason than the intimate looks at the many behind-the-scenes episodes related here, to which most of us peons can never get close.
Don't be too misled by the photo of LeBron on the cover, however. This is not just a book about LeBron. The title is, after all 'The Franchise' and that's the thrust of this volume. Certainly, LeBron is (and will hopefully continue to be) a major part of the franchise, but basically, there's much to be learned about the former owner Gordon Gund and the current one, Dan Gilbert. He REALLY wants a championship, and seems willing to do whatever it takes to bring one here. I hope there will soon be a book of Gilbert's 'isms' - that would be an instant best-seller!
Maybe next year will be OUR year!
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
LeBron James's impact on the Cavs
By Richard J. Grebenc
Pluto and Windhorst do a very nice job of providing background, insight, analysis, and perspective on recent Cavs history. And not only from the time James was drafted. After a very brief review of Cavs history (literally a couple pages) prior to the Gund purchase, the authors provide an interesting look into the franchise from the time James was a freshman in high school. Alternating the Cavs saga with James progress during those four years is a really fascinating build-up to the drafting of James. Of particular import during this time is the story of the trade that got Shawn Kemp out of town and off the books (the story of their pursuit and acquisition of him in 1997 is given a long look also), followed by the dismantling of the team, and the additional dumping of salaries in the hopes of getting James.
An in-depth look into the shoe companies courting James is followed by the elation of the Cavs getting the number one pick and choosing James. A chapter on the Carlos Boozer fiasco provides perspective on that situation and its short-term and long-term effects. Much time is given to the change of ownership to Gilbert (with some fascinating insights and perspective from Gund and Gilbert), the subsequent hiring of Brown followed by Ferry (discussion of the latter's playing career and move to Cleveland as GM is detailed), the rough start Gilbert had, lessons learned, and future successes ending in a spot in the NBA finals in 2007.
Plenty of time is given to James, of course. By no means a detailed autobiography, enough information is given on his early years, and particularly his influences (family and friends), that a real solid picture is given of how he became a phenom early in life and how he developed into the star he is today.
A couple of negatives, though. Apparently recent interviews with Gilbert, Gund, Embry, Paxson, Silas, Tait, and Ferry really give insight and perspective to past events. But no interviews with Brown or current or recent players, especially James, appear. I would have liked to get their thoughts. Also, particularly annoying were several typos and awkwardly worded sentences. I'm sure these will be cleared up in any future editions. But these are mild criticisms and do not substantially take away from the book.
Meant to be a history of the Cavs leading up to James and how he has changed the franchise, the authors succeed admirably. A must-have for the hard-core Cavs fan, this would also be of interest to avid NBA fans of any stripe. In addition, casual fans would get great insight into how the Cavs got to where they are today and the impact one player can have on a franchise.
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