Jim Brown passed the Larry O'Brien Trophy to LeBron James following a speech Wednesday by the NBA Finals MVP at the Cleveland Cavaliers' championship celebration. Read James' speech here.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jim Brown held the Larry O'Brien Trophy and walked toward LeBron James.
The last superstar to win Cleveland a championship 52 years ago passed the gold hardware Wednesday to James, concluding the Cavaliers' championship parade and rally. James accepted the proverbial passing of the torch from Brown, who led Cleveland's NFL title run in 1964.
James, the NBA Finals MVP, addressed his teammates one by one and did not hold back. Here is James' speech from a podium off St. Clair Avenue.
Oh, man. They asked me do I have a speech or something prepared, and I really don't. I'm just going to speak from the heart like I always do.
What's going on right now is still so surreal to me. It still hasn't hit me what actually happened, and for some crazy a-- reason I believe like I'm going to wake up, and it's going to be like Game 4 all over again. I'll be like, s---, we're down 2-1 still.
Like I swear. I keep feeling that, because it's so surreal. I was talking to my wife, and I'm like, babe, we did it. You guys always see the finished product, and when we step out on the floor -- either 18 minutes before the game or Kyrie's taking a long time to put two pairs of socks on or his shoes on and we come out at like 12. You guys see it from that point to the end of the game. But what you guys do not see is the hard work behind the scenes when all these cameras and all these lights and everything are not around.
I heard a lot of it "thank you LeBrons" today, and "thanks for coming home and keeping your promise." But really you guys should be thanking all the guys up here to be honest. I'm just one man. I'm one man with a plan, with a drive, with determination, with will, with a belief, a strong support system at home. But I'm just one guy. I look over here at Jordan McCray, a young guy that came to our team from the D-League, and he just automatically just bought into what we wanted to do. So he was ready to do anything that we asked from him. You know, being a young guy.
To my brother, judge. J.J., I've seen a lot of things. Like LeBron James made six straight Finals appearances. Well, s---, James Jones made six straight as well. You guys never see champ complain about playing time, complaining about shots, complaining about anything, and he's probably the most professional guy on our team J.J., thank you.
Dahntay Jones, we just picked him up. He's the luckiest man in the world. I'll tell you that. We picked his a-- up like two months ago. No, but seriously, a true professional. Competing against this guy, you always knew that you've got to be locked in. Every time he stepped on the floor, and then when he got on the team, we saw how great of a teammate he was. Also another guy that will give anything. And you guys saw that in our game, our Game 6 at home. J.R. Smith picks up three fouls. (Iman) Shumpert picks up three fouls. R.J. (Richard Jefferson) had three fouls at halftime. And Coach (Tyronn) Lue and myself, and Kyrie, we had a lot of faith in Dahntay, and Dahntay had faith in himself and gave us a huge boost to close out that quarter in Game 6. Thank you, Dahntay.
Mo Williams. Having Mo back. Me and Mo have some unfinished business last time we were together in '09 and '10. Making it to the Eastern Conference finals and losing to Orlando. Making it to the second round, losing to Boston. And we went our separate ways. But when we had an opportunity to pick him up in the offseason, I think it was great for our team, and I'm happy to be able to share this moment with Mo. Share a championship with Mo, because we had unfinished business. So thank you, Mo.
And to young guy, aka, Kyrie Irving, whatever you want to call him. This guy, he thought I was blowing smoke up his a-- early in the season when I said he could be the best point guard in our league and also be an MVP in our league. And I know every single one of you watched that Finals. You all saw what this guy's capable of doing. And he's only 24. Oh, my goodness. He's only 24. He don't reach his prime for another three years. Thank you, Kyrie.
You guys heard all the stories, you can't win with J.R. on your team. J.R. takes bad shots. You all heard them weak a-- stories. But when our GM (David Griffin) came to me and said we have an opportunity to get J.R. Smith from the New York Knicks, the Knicks said J.R. was a throw-in by the way. Yeah, we'll leave that to the side. But I was like I would love to have J.R. Smith. I know J.R. Smith and I know what he's capable of doing. And he showed not only is he a hell of a 3-point shooter, he's a hell of a defensive player, two-way player. Thank you, if J.R. Smith.
Shump, want to thank Iman Shumpert. Another guy that we got in that deal from New York; young, hungry, guy that would do anything. Last year, you guys don't even know this because we don't ever put out our medical reports about being injured, Shump played all last year in The Finals with a partially torn groin and partially torn shoulder last year. You guys don't know that. It's not about that. We don't want sympathy; just hard work and dedication. This guy right here will run through that. Whatever the hell that is, that brick building right there, Shump will run through it.
Now I don't know if he'll go head-first because he loves his haircut, but he'll go face-first. Shump, thank you.
Delly ... (applause) yeah, and he deserves that. He deserves that.
If it was a bear right here, and it was Delly right here, and I shot the ball and I was wondering who was going to get to the ball first, Delly would tear that damn bear up. You all saw for the last two years, Delly giving everything. He damn near gave his life last year in The Finals. Had to go to the hospital after one of our Finals games. That's a guy who is dedicated. Who never cared about guys saying Delly's not fast enough. Delly's not strong enough. Delly can't shoot it well enough. Delly's not an NBA player. Well, guess what, Delly's a champion. Thank you, Delly.
Timo, another ex-Knick. But we'll leave that to the side again. When we got Timo, I remember when Griffin said we were going to get Timofey Mozgov, you want to know what's crazy? The first time I saw Timo we were in Golden State about to play Golden State. Last year you guys knew if you could cover us, which you guys did, that we needed a little more size in our interior, a little more athleticism. So I come down the elevator and Timo is in the lobby and I swear it looked like I was seeing like the biggest human being I've ever seen in my life. I looked at Griff. He said he's a big mother, ain't he? I said he is absolutely. And when I seen him the very next night, he sprint from baseline to baseline, blocked shots, tipped dunks, alley-oops. I said we've got a great one, and also, Timo, thank you so much. You're a champion as well.
Sasha (Kaun), a good friend of mine texted me the other day by the name of Mario Chalmers. He said, "You know you can't win a championship without a (Kansas) Jayhawk on my team." And I said, "You're right. I won two in Miami with you, and I get another one here with Sasha being an ex-Jayhawk in Kansas." Sasha, everything you did this year that no one's seen, working out with Timo every single day, committing to the game every single day. You worked out every single day with no vision of a coaching staff or us saying, "Sasha, you're going to play." You're going to get minutes. No entitlement. No entitlement all year, and you've got to be an unbelievable person and unbelievable professional to be able to take that and still come to work every day and give it your all. Thank you, Sasha.
Little Kev, aka, R.J., Dick Jefferson, whatever you want to call him. You don't know this story point, either. I've got a lot of stories. But I want to thank DeAndre Jordan, because if DeAndre Jordan did not decide to go back to the Clippers, we wouldn't have R.J. on our team. You can Google the story. I'm not going to tell you the rest of it. But it weren't for that guy, we wouldn't have him. From day one we had R.J., I knew I had a guy that was playing behind me that I could trust, ask, count on. I don't think he realized he was going to play 35 minutes in Finals games. That's why he said he quit the other night. R.J., man, like you said, your first two years going to The Finals, me and you being on the Olympic team in '04, which was a s--- show, finishing third, everything you've been through in your career ... I'm just happy I was able to be a part of you winning your first championship, brother, thank you.
Big Kev, Kevin Love. Wow. What y'all saying? Turn around? I will in a little bit. Give me a second.
Kev, when I knew we had the opportunity to get you two years ago, I didn't second-guess it. I think you knew how I felt. I told you in the 2000 Olympics that in order for us to win a gold medal, you had to be our anchor in the interior, and you looked at me like, man, you don't know me, shut up. And for the last two years, you kind of looked at me like that a few times as well. But this guy is so misunderstood. Everybody says he's not a team player. He's not a winner. He doesn't do what it takes. And you saw his struggles throughout The Finals. Everything that happened from the concussion to sitting out to him having the shooting struggles and things of that nature, and everybody burying him alive throughout The Finals. To be able to respond like he did in Game 7, that's what real men do. They respond in their most adverse times. We talk about the shot. We talk about the block, but the stop, that was on a two-time MVP, by the way. That was on a two-time MVP, but I'm going to let that go. Thank you, Kev.
Channing (Frye), I didn't know you, man, before you got here. But I knew what you were capable of doing on the floor, and we had the opportunity to get you, I asked R.J. what type of guy he is. Said you're going to love him. I said bring him on. From day one since you got here, you've been nothing short of amazing. Both on the floor, but mostly off the floor. You are one of the greatest, funniest guys in the world. But also you're a true professional, and I'm happy to be along the ride to help win a championship with you. Thank you, Channing.
Last but not least. My little brother, "Double T," (Tristan Thompson) who I've been taking care of since he was 17. Just to see this guy grow every day. It's been unbelievable to be a part of it. "Double T," you talked about someone being reliable. I mean, 390 straight games? That's reliable. Knowing when you get on the court, there's going to be that guy there every single night that's a treat to have. Man. I love you, little bro. Always and forever. I love all of y'all. Thanks to all of y'all, dog. I really appreciate it. So thank you for all the "LeBron wishes" and "coming home wishes," but I'm nothing without the group behind me, man. I'm nothing without the coaching staff. I'm nothing without the city. You guys are unbelievable. And these guys told me I've got to turn around. So I'm nothing without y'all. I love all y'all. I love all y'all, and, s---, let's get ready for next year.
Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on Twitter (@mgoul) or email (mgoul@cleveland.com). Or log in and leave a message below in the comments section.