And what do they have to show for it?
Barely one Finals appearance — which is very sad when you think about how awful the East has been over that span
Their biggest victory in the last decade is LeBron leaving the East
No one has questioned their ability to win some Eastern conference series
I’ve made a lot of money fading this team starting in this upcoming round
Bro, let's unpack the EC from 2017 through 2024 (the 8 year span in question where the C's made the ECF 6 times)
2017: Cavs in the East. LeBron, Bro. all time great arguably GOAT level along with MJ, Wilt, Bill Russell. We are talking Mount Rushmore of Basketball and LeBron was only 32yo during the '17 finals.
He won it all the year before in '16 over GS. Kyrie was with him in 2017.
2018: Lebron again. This time 33yo. Still in prime.
2019: Raptors with Kawhi and some other 2nd level stars like Lowry. Great Team. Won it all !!
2020: Bubble playoffs. Heat won the ECF. Jimmy Buckets. Spo. Riley. Heat Culture.
2021: Bucks with The Greek Freak win it all. Incredible talent. Middleton with him. Lopez. Coach Bud.
2022: C's make the Finals.
2023: Heat and Jimmy Buckets again. Spo Riley. Heat culture.
So you are saying the EC was "awful" and I am telling you Lebron was there for 2 of those years, The Greek Freak one, Kawhi Leonard (multiple time champion) was there, and then he has to face HEAT Culture with an extremely well built team under Riley. Jimmy Buckets. Bam Adebayo. Lowry that guy again. Strong teams.
It is kind of like ripping the Buffalo Bills for losing 4 straight Super Bowls.
They lost to an all time Great Dallas Team with like 5 HOFers on it, and they lost twice.
The other one they lost to Bill Parcells, an all time great and multiple SB champion.
And the other one they lost to the Redskins and Joe Gibbs, another all time great who won multiple SB's with different QB's.
You have to look deeper and unpack this stuff.
I wish the C's were 100% and had Porzingas.