Cleveland sports fans have seen “The Drive” and “The Fumble” and “The Shot” … and a ton of other moments that didn’t receive a nickname but ripped out the heart of the city.
Now you can add “The Flop.”
No, not the defensive maneuver Anderson Varejao — and Ben Wallace and Mo Williams, according to Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy — uses to try to finesse a whistle from the officials.
This flop is the summation of the Cavaliers’ efforts during the 2009 Eastern Conference finals — a 4-2 series loss to the once-lightly regarded Magic that was capped by Saturday’s 103-90 defeat in Orlando, Fla.
The Cavs’ stellar defense that disappeared, the open 3-pointers Cleveland allowed Orlando’s shooters to take, the erratic substitutions made by Coach of the Year Mike Brown — flop, flop and flop.
This season, or more accurately this postseason, is the first black eye of superstar LeBron James’ NBA career. Season after season, James has progressed as an individual and his team has shown improvement.
It’s been a steady climb for the league MVP since he was picked No. 1 overall in 2003.
The Cavaliers had won just 17 games the season before to put themselves in position to select James, and he came out like gangbusters in his first season to help Cleveland more than double its win total.
James then led the Cavaliers to a 42-40 record during his sophomore year, giving Cleveland its first winning season in nine years and putting the Cavs within a breath of earning their first postseason berth since 1998.
It was the last season any Cavs fan would have to wonder if the team could reach the playoffs, as James turned the franchise into a perennial power during season No. 3.
The progression has continued during the playoffs, too. Cavs fans were just happy to see their team back in the playoffs at the end of the 2005-06 season, but James and his teammates overachieved by winning their first-round series and then taking the Detroit Pistons — then regarded as NBA royalty — to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
James then put the Cavs on his back and led them to their first and only NBA Finals appearance during the 2006-07 season. Cleveland fans were ecstatic. James had delivered them to the championship series faster than expected, and everyone barely flinched when they were promptly swept by the San Antonio Spurs.
Even last season, with critics still yelling that the Cavs didn’t have the right supporting cast around James to help him take down an NBA title, the team won its third straight first-round series and took the eventual champion Boston Celtics — who had three All-Stars — to seven games. Many Cavs fans still looked at the season as a success.
But those good feelings and smiles will be missing in Cleveland today.
It’ll be hard to remember the Cavaliers winning 66 games during the regular season. Sweeping through the first two rounds of the postseason with double-digit victories won’t be at the front of anyone’s minds. The improbable shot that won Game 2 against Orlando — the defining moment of James’ young career — will be considered a fluke, and the Game 5 win that kept the series alive won’t seem to matter.
It’s a bitter end to a season that was filled with so much promise.
Mo Williams arrived to be the All-Star sidekick that would allow James to bring Cleveland its first championship in 45 years. The team entered the postseason with momentum and looked to be too dominant to deny. It was destiny.
The world seemed restless as it waited for the eventual showdown between the game’s two best players – and last two MVPs — in James and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant.
Well, Bryant will be there battling the Magic and trying to win his fourth championship ring, which would further cement his legendary status and give more ammo to those who believe he’s the greatest player in the NBA.
James might be there, too. He’ll just be seated in the front row, watching what could have been and wondering if he’ll be able to reach his ultimate goal in a city that is nearing five decades of disappointment.
If James is the Chosen One, will it be Cleveland that he leads to the Promised Land? Will the day come that all those heartbreaking sports references get washed down the drain and Cleveland becomes LeBron’s kingdom with millions of witnesses for subjects?
The longtime Cleveland fan would probably say the city’s sports franchises are cursed and the answers to the above questions are no. After watching the collapse of the Cavaliers this season, it would be hard to argue.
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

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