Cleveland Cavaliers: Quick Hitters From Media Day

I felt it again, and I’m betting that if you bear any semblance to an NBA fan, you did too. After the doldrums of August and most of September, when nothing remotely exciting is occurring in the world of NBA hoops (thank goodness for FIBA), we finally arrived at media day.

And despite the obvious questions and answers about muscle gain and shooting improvements, it still lit a fire in my belly.

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Seeing players back in their jerseys after potentially five months from shedding them in April has a special quality all its own. Whether it’s seeing all of your team in new jerseys (Toronto), seeing players in their old jerseys (Kobe Bryant) or simply seeing the new additions to your team actually standing there, it’s hard not to feel a burst of emotional energy surge through your body.

Media day is also, simply put, fun. Or as I like to call it, funtertaining. The Cleveland Cavaliers’ media day certainly was. Months removed from falling in The Finals, the team is back together and looking to start fresh.

Here are some notable takeaways from Cavs media day:

1. Season of Rage 

Like most NBA teams that come runner-up in The Finals, the Cavaliers are angry. Kyrie Irving is angry. LeBron James is angry. Kevin Love is angry. Heck, even J.R. Smith is angry.

So what?

Well, it immediately gives the Cavaliers a goal. They have something to work towards. Think about it: last season their goal was to become a unified whole, a unit that could actually coexist well enough on the floor to become one of the East contenders.

Now that thought is behind them. Despite being broken up in the playoffs, the Cavs don’t see this year as an opportunity to become a more cohesive squad. They see this as a chance to finish what they started and crush every single opponent in their path on the way there.

That’s the kind of mentality you want from any team, let alone one that just got hammered on the biggest stage last season. And it’s not an impossible feat–we’ve seen this story before. LeBron’s Heat lost in 2011 and come back to win it in 2012. The Spurs lost it in 2013 and won it in 2014.

This is a unique breed of motivation. One that only comes with loss at its most painful. So the Cavs are angry. That’s something that no one this season will be able to ignore.

2. Kyrie Fall-No-More?

If you’re a fan of Irving, something that has to concern you is his play-style. As much as it is fun, it’s growing exceedingly dangerous. When he drives to the basket he almost always gets nailed in the paint and winds up on his back.

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This constant falling has led in no small part to the many injuries he’s dealt with over his short career. Now he’s looking to change that.

He’s spent a large portion of the offseason reviewing film so that he can find ways to reduce his toppling. What does this mean? It means we might see a bit of a different Kyrie this season.

He might not drive as much, and he has mentioned his desire to dribble less while getting off the same amount (or more) shots. It will be a work in progress, but this should make Kyrie’s game a little more clean and, hopefully, more safe.

So don’t worry if he appears a little hesitant when he dons his jersey again. He’s just looking to get better.

3. Still No Thompson Deal

Crap.

4. Lovely ‘Do

Now this. This has to be one of my favourite things from media day.

Evidently, K-Love’s hair was so angry from The Finals loss that it curled in fluffy defiance. … Or he got a perm this summer and no one seemed to notice until he was put back in front of the camera. Now he bears an uncanny resemblance to a number of other celebrities, including: Seth Rogan, Seth Myers, ‘Lil Dicky and Jackie Moon.

While the Internet had fun with this (and I certainly did too), I think it looks great. And hey, it works for Anderson Varejao, am I right? Maybe we can get Andy and Love a couple of shirts that say “Wild Thing 1” and “Wild Thing 2”.

There you have it. The top four most important things from Cavs media day. Preseason is on the horizon.

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