The Franchise
Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst
Gray & Company, Publishers

It used to just be a game. Not any more. Once the players pass the age of about six or so, basketball (and nearly every other major league sport, as well) starts to show signs of becoming BIG Business — married without redemption to Entertainment. And this sliding scale becomes increasingly obvious the closer one reaches for professional levels. It’s best not to forget that fact while you rejoice in the wonder that is LeBron James. He is a transformative figure who 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 area sportswriters Terry Pluto and 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. Also, there are 38 photographs, all but one in color, and several of them are full-page action shots of the air-borne James. It's enough to take your breath away.

And to think, this is 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!

The Cavs couldn’t quite pull it all off last season. So, we should all just hope that Mr. Gilbert gets his wish, come June of this year.

FYI: I do think it’s too bad that there’s no mention of the Cleveland Rockers, who, after all, did bring Mr. Gund a championship banner. I know. I was there when they won the 1998 WNBA Eastern Conference Championship. I was there the next fall when the banner was raised in the arena. It seems to have somehow gone missing. Not just too bad, but also too sad.
For more information on the book, visit http://www.grayco.com/cleveland/books/10282.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
Comments: Letters@CoolCleveland.com

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