CLEVELAND — LeBron James and the rest of the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers are being honored with a parade downtown on Wednesday as the city celebrates its first major professional sports title since 1964.
Hundreds of thousands of fans, some who had slept on sidewalks overnight to get a good view, are in attendance as they packed downtown Cleveland like never before, spilling off sidewalks into streets along the 1.3 mile route.
The Cavaliers ended the city’s 52-year title drought on Sunday night by upsetting the defending champion Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena 93-89 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
The downtown parade, with James and Kyrie Irving riding in style in Rolls-Royce sedans, began outside Quicken Loans Arena before heading up East Ninth Street and concluding with a rally at Mall B, where 50,000 fans were expected on the grass area.
The fans — many dressed in the team’s wine-and-gold colors — moved into the area in droves at around 9 a.m. trying to find the best location to watch the rally. The crowd was so large near Quicken Loans Arena that the parade was delayed because the open-air vehicles that were supposed to carry the Cavaliers were having difficulty getting through to the staging area.
The parade, which features 60 floats, began with a truck spraying confetti into the crowd and was followed by Ohio State coaches Urban Meyer and Thad Matta and the Buckeyes’ marching band. Not far behind was the Lake Erie Monsters, who won the AHL’s Calder Cup this season.
Wearing a gold cap and chomping on a cigar, James is riding behind the marching band from Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, where he attended. James was named Finals MVP after averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists during the series. He will be honored in his hometown of Akron on Thursday with a rally.
The 31-year-old played his first seven professional seasons in Cleveland after being selected No. 1 overall by the Cavs in the 2003 NBA draft. He then angered the city by leaving in free agency for the Miami Heat in 2010. James won two championships in his four seasons with the Heat before returning to Cleveland in 2014. Two seasons later, he delivered on his promise to bring a title to Northeast Ohio, cementing his legacy in Cleveland as a result.
Cleveland has suffered many heartbreaking sports moments over the years like The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot and The Decision. But more than five decades after Jim Brown led the Browns to the 1964 NFL championship, the city is back on top of the sports world again.
The Cavaliers were greeted by around 10,000 fans when their team charter plane landed at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on Monday morning. Every hotel downtown was sold out Tuesday.