2016 NBA Finals

• 1. Introduction

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  The 2016 NBA Finals turned on a secret hidden above a ceiling panel in an Oakland locker room. After Cleveland's Game 5 win, the Cavaliers still trailed three games to two. Head coach Tyronn Lue collected two hundred dollars from every player on the roster. He hid the cash and told his team they would only get it back after they returned home and beat the Golden State Warriors.

  The stakes were steep. Golden State had just finished a 73-9 regular season, the best in NBA history. They had beaten these same Cavaliers in the Finals the year before. Cleveland, meanwhile, had never won a championship in franchise history, and the city itself had gone decades without one in any major sport.

  What happened next would turn this series into one many still call the greatest ever played. It included a chase-down block from LeBron James with under two minutes left in the deciding game.

• 2. A Coaching Shake-Up

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  On the 22nd of January 2016, Cleveland held the best record in the Eastern Conference at 30-11. The Cavaliers fired head coach David Blatt that same day. General manager David Griffin explained the move as the result of "a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision." Associate head coach Tyronn Lue was promoted to replace him. This marked Cleveland's second straight trip to the Finals and third overall, still chasing the franchise's first championship. It was also LeBron James's sixth consecutive Finals appearance, more than any player outside the Boston Celtics teams of the 1960s. Teammate James Jones was making his fifth Finals trip, having technically qualified for the 2011 Finals alongside James without playing.

  Cleveland closed the regular season at 57-25, capturing the Central Division title and the top seed in the East. The Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons in the first round and the Atlanta Hawks in the conference semifinals. They then beat the Toronto Raptors in six games to reach the Finals. Both coaches who led Cleveland to its two straight Finals, Blatt and then Lue, were rookie head coaches, a first in NBA history.

  Steve Kerr missed the first 43 regular season games with a back injury. Assistant coach Luke Walton served as interim head coach in his absence, guiding Golden State to a 39-4 start. Stephen Curry was named NBA Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season. He and Klay Thompson, nicknamed the Splash Brothers, combined to average 52.2 points per game, the highest scoring duo in the league. This was the defending champion Warriors' second consecutive trip to the Finals, and their eighth overall.

• 3. Golden State's Historic Run

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  Golden State finished the 2015-16 regular season with a 73-9 record, breaking the mark set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls at 72-10. The Warriors broke several other league records that same season. They won 34 games on the road, started the year 24-0, and put together a 54-game home winning streak dating back to the 2014-15 season. They became the first team to make more than 1,000 three-pointers in a single regular season, hitting 1,077 threes. That broke the previous record of 933, set by the 2014-15 Houston Rockets.

  In the first two playoff rounds, Golden State beat the Houston Rockets and then the Portland Trail Blazers, winning both series in five games. Curry missed six games across those two rounds because of injury. He tweaked his right ankle in Game 1 against the Rockets and sat out two games. Back in the lineup for Game 4, he sprained his right knee and missed four more games.

  Facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference finals, Golden State trailed three games to one. The Warriors won Game 7 on the road, 96-88, becoming only the 10th team in NBA history to erase a 3-1 series deficit. It sent them to a second consecutive Finals, the franchise's first back-to-back trip since 1947 and 1948.

• 4. Three Games to One

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  For the first time since 2004, the NBA Finals used a new schedule. Earlier Finals had followed a Thursday-Sunday-Tuesday pattern. The league added an extra travel day after Games 2, 4, 5 and 6 instead, a change made necessary because the National Hockey League had shifted its own championship scheduling starting in 2016.

  Golden State opened the series by beating Cleveland 104-89 in Game 1 on the 2nd of June. Cleveland had led 68-67 before the Warriors broke the game open with a 29-9 run. Cleveland cut the gap to 98-87, but back-to-back threes from Curry and Thompson sealed the win. Golden State's bench outscored Cleveland's 45-10. Shaun Livingston set a playoff career-high with 20 points, and Irving led all scorers with 26. James fell one assist short of a triple-double, finishing with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists.

  Three days later, Golden State won Game 2, 110-77. Cleveland led 28-22 early in the second quarter before a 20-2 Warriors run turned the game. Kevin Love suffered a head injury attempting a rebound during that stretch and did not return after halftime. Draymond Green scored 28 points, including five three-pointers, as Golden State posted a 48-point margin, the largest in the first two games of any Finals. James added 19 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and four steals. That moved him past John Stockton for fourth on the all-time playoff steals list, despite seven turnovers.

  Cleveland answered by routing Golden State 120-90 in Game 3 on the 8th of June. The Cavaliers scored the game's first nine points and led 51-43 at halftime. They outscored Golden State 33-16 in the first quarter and 69-47 in the second half. Love sat out with a concussion. James led all scorers with 32 points, and Irving added 30 for Cleveland. Curry scored 19 for Golden State despite four made threes, and Harrison Barnes added 18 in 33 minutes.

• 5. The Cavaliers Answer

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  Officials reviewed the contact between Green and James after Game 4 and issued Green a Flagrant Foul 1, calling it "unnecessary" and "retaliatory." James received a technical foul for taunting during the same sequence. The point pushed Green's flagrant foul total in the playoffs to four, triggering an automatic suspension for Game 5. It was the first Finals suspension since Jerry Stackhouse in 2006. Green watched from a luxury box at the nearby Oakland Alameda Coliseum, where the Athletics happened to be hosting the Texas Rangers at the same time.

  Cleveland won Game 5, 112-97, on the 13th of June, cutting Golden State's lead to 3-2. James and Irving each scored 41 points, the first teammates in Finals history to both reach 40 in the same game. James added 16 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks, while Irving contributed six assists. Warriors center Andrew Bogut suffered a season-ending left knee injury in the second half. He was hurt jumping to block a layup attempt by Cleveland's J. R. Smith and landed awkwardly on him.

  Cleveland tied the series at 3-3 with a 115-101 win in Game 6 on the 16th of June. The Cavaliers scored the game's first eight points and led 59-43 at halftime. Tristan Thompson recorded a double-double in the first half alone. James finished with 41 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. He committed only one turnover and scored 18 straight points spanning the end of the third quarter into the fourth. Irving added 23 points and Thompson grabbed 16 rebounds. Curry led Golden State with 30 points and six three-pointers. He fouled out with 4:22 left, the first MVP to do so in a Finals game since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000. Curry threw his mouthpiece into the stands in frustration, drawing a technical foul and an ejection. He and head coach Steve Kerr were later fined $25,000 each for their conduct and public criticism of the officiating.

  Cleveland became just the third team in NBA history, and the first in 50 years, to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-1. James became the first player with consecutive 40-point Finals games since Shaquille O'Neal in the 2000 Finals. One game remained to decide the championship.

• 6. Game Seven

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  The day before Game 7, Tyronn Lue took his team to San Quentin State Prison. Players walked past the facility's electric chair and spoke with inmates. Lue then told them, "That's pressure, not a Game 7."

  Both teams entered the game having scored exactly 610 points apiece through the first six games, a first in NBA history. Golden State led 49-42 at halftime, but Cleveland outscored the Warriors 51-40 in the second half. Golden State failed to score a single basket over the final 4 minutes and 39 seconds. The game had 20 lead changes and 11 ties, and it was the only game in the series decided by fewer than 10 points.

  With 1 minute 50 seconds left and the score tied at 89, Andre Iguodala drove for a layup. LeBron James chased him down from behind and blocked the shot, a play instantly known as "The Block." Commentator Mike Breen called it live: "Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!" Breen later called it proof that James "is just not going to let them lose." Iguodala later admitted his own intent going in, saying, "I'm like, 'dunk on his head.'" He said he held back because he knew Smith would have stolen the ball, adding it was "one of the loudest sounds I ever heard, BOOM!" James told ESPN afterward, "Iguodala is a bad motherfucker! I had to go chase it down." He later told Cleveland.com that his only thought was not to give up on the play. He was watching Smith closely so he would not foul Iguodala, and racing to get the ball before it hit the backboard. Weeks later, rapper Nicki Minaj referenced the play on DJ Khaled's song "Do You Mind," rapping, "Any baller tryna score, check them shot clocks / But I hit 'em with them 'Bron Iguodala blocks."

  Kyrie Irving hit a go-ahead three-pointer over Curry, putting Cleveland ahead 92-89 with 53 seconds left. Entering that shot, both teams had scored exactly 699 points each in the series. Golden State pushed the ball up without calling a timeout and got a switch that put Curry on Kevin Love. Love forced Curry into a contested three-pointer that missed, in what was called one of the biggest defensive stops of the season. James then hurt his right wrist on a dunk attempt after being fouled by Green. He made one of two free throws for a four-point lead with 10.6 seconds left. Cleveland fouled Green with 6.5 seconds remaining. Curry received the inbounds pass, pump-faked, and missed a three-pointer over Iman Shumpert. Golden State's Marreese Speights grabbed the rebound but missed his own three as time expired.

  Green finished with a Finals-best 32 points on 6 of 8 shooting from three, adding 15 rebounds and nine assists. Curry scored 17 and Thompson 14 for Golden State. James led Cleveland with 27 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, becoming only the third player ever with a triple-double in a Finals Game 7. Irving added 26 points. Cleveland won, 93-89.

• 7. A Long-Awaited Celebration

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  Cleveland became the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit and win the Finals. The Cavaliers also became the first champion to clinch every series on the road since the 1999 San Antonio Spurs. It was the first time a road team had won a Finals Game 7 since the 1978 Washington Bullets. It was also the first time since 1978 that any Game 7 had gone to the road team.

  The championship was Cleveland's first in franchise history. It ended a 52-year title drought across every major professional sport in the city, a stretch fans had nicknamed the Cleveland sports curse. The city's last title had come when the 1964 Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Colts for the NFL Championship. It was also the first championship for an Ohio-based team since 1990, when the Cincinnati Reds won their fifth and most recent World Series title. That ended a 26-year championship drought for the state.

  LeBron James was named Finals MVP unanimously, averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.3 blocks across the series. He became the fifth player in NBA history to win the award three or more times. James also led every player in the series in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. No player had ever done that in an NBA playoff series before. Tyronn Lue had been promoted from associate head coach five months earlier. He became the 14th person to win an NBA championship as both a player and a head coach.

  This was the first Finals to reach a Game 7 under the 2-2-1-1-1 format since it returned in 2014. It was also the most watched Game 7 in NBA history. Game 7 alone drew a 15.8 household rating and an average of 31.02 million viewers, well above the series average of 11.4 and 20.28 million. ABC broadcast the series nationally, with Mike Breen on play-by-play alongside Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. TNT's Craig Sager reported from the sideline for Game 6, his only Finals appearance that year and his last game before he died that December. On the 13th of July, Game 7 received the ESPY award for Best Game.

  On the 22nd of June 2016, Cleveland held a championship parade. An estimated 1.3 million people attended, the largest NBA title parade on record at the time. Browns Hall of Fame running back and civil rights activist Jim Brown attended. Cavaliers announcer Fred McLeod described the moment on air as Brown "passing the torch" to James as the city's next sports icon.

• 8. The Ripple Effect

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  Before leaving the arena after Game 7, Draymond Green sat in his car and called general manager Bob Myers. He urged Myers to pursue free agent Kevin Durant. Green then called Durant directly, and Durant told him he was "on his way." Two weeks later, Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team that had nearly eliminated Golden State a month earlier, to join the 73-win Warriors. He replaced forward Harrison Barnes, who had struggled through the playoffs. Barnes went on to sign a four-year, $94 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks.

  Cleveland and Golden State met in the following two NBA Finals. It was the first time any two teams had met for the championship four straight years in any of North America's four major sports leagues. Golden State, strengthened by Durant, won both rematches. They took one in five games and swept the other, with Durant named Finals MVP each time. The Warriors later reached a fifth straight Finals, losing to the Toronto Raptors in six games. They then made a sixth Finals in eight seasons, beating the Boston Celtics in six games.

  James left Cleveland for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018 offseason. He led the Lakers to a championship and won Finals MVP that season. Cavaliers guard J. R. Smith was on that Lakers roster too, as a bench player. Off the court, Green and James became close friends in the years that followed. Green signed with Klutch Sports in 2019, the agency run by Rich Paul, James's longtime friend and agent. He later said his own suspension had cost Golden State the championship.

  As of 2025, Cleveland's 2016 title remains the only professional sports championship the city has won in the 21st century. That October, James, Richard Jefferson and Kevin Love watched from the stands as the Cleveland Indians reached Game 7 of the World Series against the Chicago Cubs. The Indians lost that game in extra innings.