Brian Windhorst and Terry Pluto have great material that they don't completely utilize in The Franchise.
Life is good for the Cleveland Cavaliers these days.
Coming off a franchise-record 66 wins in the regular season, the 2007 Eastern Conference champions have earned the overall top seed in the league and accompanying home court advantage throughout the playoffs.
In the first round, they are on the verge of sweeping the once-mighty Detroit Pistons, with a possible collision against the battered but proud defending champion Boston Celtics looming in the conference finals.
Attendance has continued to climb since the beginning of the decade, and superstar LeBron James’ jersey is the top selling item in the league.
It has not always been this way.
Despite a solid period in the early to mid-90s, where the Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, Larry Nance, Ron Harper and Hot Rod Williams-led teams coached by Lenny Wilkens gave fans plenty to cheer about and Michael Jordan’s Bulls a worthy adversary, the Cavaliers had generally had a dismal history.
As anyone who has ever heard of a pick and roll knows, the Akron-born James is at the heart of the Cavaliers’ improvement, popularity and championship prospects.
Just 24 years old, the muscle bound MVP favorite continues to elevate his game and to add previously unseen dimensions to his seemingly limitless abilities. This year, he has gained mention for Defensive Player of the Year after having a more casual approach to defense earlier in his career.
In The Franchise: LeBron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers, sportswriters Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst chronicle the Cavs’ history, how they landed James, and the process by which general managers Jim Paxson and Danny Ferry and owners Gordon Gund and Daniel Gilbert assembled the team that challenged the San Antonio Spurs for the 2007 NBA title.
For hoops fans, much of the information contained in The Franchise will be review-the Cavaliers’ dark years under owner Ted Stepien, the bright spot in the 90s, the questions about whether they tanked during James’ senior year so as to get a high position in the lottery and thus have a better chance of landing-and there is some new material.
The negotiations with Nike about a contract that eventually totaled $100 million was informative and entertaining. So, too, was reading about Gilbert’s 21 aphorisms for business success that he initially struggled, but ultimately was able to apply to the basketball.
The book falls flat in its writing.
It opens with what to this point has been James’ defining performance-his “Jordanesque” performance against the Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals in which he scored 29 of his team’s last 30 points on an array of dunks, drives, three-pointers and jumpers to lead his team to an overtime victory.
James’ performance is a gift to any sportswriter.
Not only was it one for the ages, not only was it his official emergence as a transcendent superstar, not only did it bring his team all the way back from an 0-2 deficit, and not only did it show the team surpassing its former tormentors, but James scored his points in the flow of the game.
Little of this comes through in The Franchise. Instead, the description of the action reads more like the recounting of a box score than providing the color, drama and excitement that the moment created.
Still, if you are looking for a quick informative read rather than on a search for inspirational writing, The Franchise could be the right read. It will take most readers about as much times as James and the Cavaliers will need to dismantle the Pistons this afternoon.
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