INDEPENDENCE, Ohio _ Returning to the NBA Finals for the third consecutive year allowed Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving to reflect on the good _ winning last year _ and the bad.
For those who forgot in the championship euphoria the Cavs and Northeast Ohio experienced last year, the team also had a legitimate shot in 2015 to win a championship before injuries took two humongous bites out of its roster.
The first came in the first round of the playoffs when the Boston Celtics' Kelly Olynyk yanked Kevin Love's shoulder out of its socket. The second came in Game 1 of the Finals when Irving's left knee collided with Klay Thompson and fractured.
Irving had been in and out of the lineup after being diagnosed with tendinitis in the knee.
"I was as ready as I could be for Game 1 of the 2015 Finals," Irving said. "I did everything possible to put myself in a position to feel at least as close to 80 percent, or as close to 90 percent as I could going into that game, knowing the possibility that I could further injure my knee."
In an interview after the injury, Irving said the knee wasn't susceptible to further injury.
"My knee in terms of the stability was great," he said. "Obviously there was a risk going out there playing anyway, no matter what. But in terms of everything that was inside of my knee stability-wise, everything was fine."
Irving said what happened then doesn't matter much now with the defending champion Cavs already in possession of a championship.
"I was living those odds," he said. "It's a decision that I would not take back at all because of what we learned from that and how we are and how we responded."
Irving scored 23 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out six assists in Game 1 of the 2015 Finals before his injury, but admitted he was in awe of the stage. That experience helped him learn something important, he said.
"I was happy to just be there," he said. "To be on the court with my teammates, coming off the injury that I had. I never take these moments for granted."
