A couple of years ago, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo gave maybe the greatest press conference answer ever.
The Cavs had one of the great regular seasons in league history, including three winning streaks of 12 or more games. But they fell in the second round of the playoffs to the Pacers after hefty injuries and lousy shooting let them down.
That doesn’t mean the season is a failure, though. It’s worth revisiting this whole Antetokounmpo quote from May 2023:
“Every year you work, you work towards something, towards a goal, right? Which is to get a promotion, be able to take care of your family, to be able to provide the house for them or take care of your parents,” he said. “You work towards a goal. It’s not a failure; it’s steps to success.”
“There’s always steps to it,” Antetokounmpo continued. “Michael Jordan played 15 years, won six championships; the other nine years was a failure? That’s what you’re telling me?
“There’s no failure in sports. You know, there’s good days, bad days. Some days you are able to be successful, some days you’re not. Some days it’s your turn, some days it’s not your turn. And that’s what sports is about. You don’t always win; some other team’s gonna win. And this year, somebody else is gonna win. Simple as that.
“We’re gonna come back next year, try to be better, try to build good habits, try to play better, not have a 10-day stretch with play bad basketball. You know, and hopefully we can win a championship. So 50 years from 1971 to 2021 that we didn’t win a championship, it was 50 years of failure? No, it was not. It was steps to it. You know, and we were able to win one. Hopefully we can win another one.”
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Giannis could’ve been talking to current Cleveland fans.
No, this season wasn’t a failure.
The Cavs unlocked Evan Mobley’s full potential. They revitalized Darius Garland. They awoke Ty Jerome.
Along the way, they started 15-0, then had another 15-game win streak and a 12-game win streak. They blitzed teams with 3-point barrages and outplayed teams with nifty ball movement.
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They won 64 games and earned the top seed in the East.
The lack of an appearance in even the conference finals, yes, that feels like a bummer.
But the Cavs had more than a bummer of a season. It was special, and it could still be building for more, just like Giannis said.
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