The Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy's victory tour across Northeast Ohio has reached a new high.
The trophy along with Cavs general manager David Griffin took a ride Monday on the Goodyear Blimp for a Larry Bird's-eye view of LeBron James' birthplace.
Goodyear released photos and a video showing the shiny trophy carefully seat-belted into a prime window seat right behind the blimp's pilot as the airship made its way in and around the skies over Akron.
This marks the first time the iconic airship has taken a sports championship trophy on a flight.
Blimp pilot Jerry Hissem said he's flown a number of celebrities over the past 19 years _ including the likes of David Letterman _ but nothing created a stir among those in the hangar like the trophy did this week.
"When they brought (the trophy) out it was almost like a person," Hissem said. "Everybody wanted a picture with it. It even got its own seat."
The Larry O'Brien Trophy has been on a whirlwind tour since the Cavs beat the Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA Championships in mid-June.
Its first stop was in Las Vegas as the Cavs made an impromptu stop to party after the team's improbable Game 7 after falling behind in the series, 3-1.
The trophy then took a victory lap around the streets of Cleveland before hundreds of thousands of adoring fans at the Cavs victory parade.
James then held it high in the air just days later before another 30,000 fans gathered at a hometown victory celebration in downtown Akron.
Since then the trophy has been making the rounds at civic and corporate partners of the Cavs throughout the region, including a visit to Cedar Point, where roller coaster fans could pose for a quick selfie.
Instead of just parking the trophy behind glass, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has said he wanted to bring it out into the community so sports fans can share in the celebration and mark the end of the city's 52-year championship drought.
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