The Franchise by Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst

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$19.95

The Franchise

LeBron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers

by Terry Pluto | Brian Windhorst

Format: Hardcover, 224 pages, 5.6 x 8.8 inches
Illustrations: 38 color photographs
ISBN: 978-1-59851-028-7
Price: $19.95

Description

When the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the top pick in the 2003 NBA draft, an entire city buzzed with excitement. After all, how often does a LeBron James 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.

Now, it seems everyone has something riding on LeBron— billionaire team owner Dan Gilbert looking for a return on his investment . . . teammates eager for a championship ring . . . the league in need of the next Michael Jordan to promote . . . the shoe company with its multimillion-dollar endorsement deal . . . even popcorn vendors in the stands of Quicken Loans Arena and servers waiting restaurant tables in a downtown that now booms every game night.

Award-winning sports journalists Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst take an in-depth look at how a team and a city are being rebuilt around LeBron James. They tell the converging stories of a struggling franchise that had to get worse in order to get better and a highly touted teenage phenom, the local kid who became their future.

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.

Book Excerpt:

“ The kind of guy other teams want”

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 . . . [ Read More Free Samples ]

Reviews

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”. — Blackathlete.net

Highly recommended to sports fans and analysts who want a wide ranging look at today's NBA. — Midwest Book Review

A must have for every basketball fan who wants the inside story of how LeBron James became the young superstar shouldering the weight of an entire NBA franchise. — cavsnews.com

About Terry Pluto

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. He lives with his wife, Roberta, in Akron, Ohio. More About Terry Pluto

About Brian Windhorst

Brian Windhorst is a reporter for the Plain Dealer and has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers since 2003. He has been an NBA correspondent for ESPN.com and ESPN First Take since 2006. His writing has been honored by the Professional Basketball Writers Association and the Associated Press. He earned a degree in journalism from Kent State University in 2000. He lives in Brook Park, Ohio, and Jupiter, Florida. More About Brian Windhorst