NBA Finals notes: Cavaliers' LeBron James voted unanimous MVP

OAKLAND - LeBron James is a champion again, and the NBA Finals MVP again.

By unanimous vote, James was selected as MVP of the title series, accepting his trophy from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after Cleveland beat Golden State 93-89 in Game 7 on Sunday night.

“This is what I came back for,” James said.

James was overcome by emotion after the final horn. He’s the finals MVP for the third time, also winning in 2012 and 2013 when he was a member of the Miami Heat.

“Best player on the planet,” Cavs teammate Kyrie Irving said.

James became the third player to have a triple-double in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, joining Jerry West in 1969 and James Worthy in 1988.

He had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the clincher, capping a series where the Cavaliers became the first team to successfully overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals.

“You see his basketball talent, the way he can control a game,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “But the reason why he deserves this is because he has a great heart ... and great things happen to great people.”

James is now 4-2 all-time in Game 7s, including 2-0 when those ultimate games come in the NBA Finals.

TEARS OF JOY IN CLEVELAND

More tears. Only this time, tears of joy.

Cleveland’s championship drought, crossing 52 years, generations and noted by a long list of near misses, is over at last.

On Father’s Day, LeBron James, the kid from nearby Akron raised by a single mother, brought the title home.

As the final seconds of Cleveland’s 93-89 victory at Golden State in Game 7 ticked off on the giant scoreboard inside Quicken Loans Arena, 18,000 fans, some of them strangers when Sunday night began, cried, hugged, screamed and shared a moment many of them have spent a lifetime dreaming of.

They then linked arms and shouted the words to Queen’s “We Are The Champions,” a song that only seemed reserved for others.

At 10:37 p.m. local time, Cleveland finally exorcised decades of sports demons - the painful losses given nicknames like “The Drive” and “The Fumble” and “The Shot” - and became a title town for the first time since Dec. 27, 1964, when the Browns won the NFL championship.

There had been so many close calls in between, so much heartache, so much torture.

“I never ever thought I would see this would happen,” said Tim Lovell from Canfield, Ohio, who sat on the 50-yard line when Denver quarterback John Elway broke Cleveland’s heart with “The Drive” in the 1986 AFC Championship game.

“I tell you what, with about two minutes to go I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I’ve seen ‘The Drive’ and I’ve seen ‘The Fumble’ and I’ve seen Michael Jordan kill us with ‘The Shot,’” he said.

Following the game, fans poured out of “The Q” onto Huron Road for a party that could last for days.

And soon, Cleveland will host a parade, one that’s been planned for a lifetime.

“I can’t wait to get back home,” James said.

FAN HURT IN FALL AT ORACLE

Authorities say a fan fell from the second deck at Oracle Arena after the game.

Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said the man in his early 20s fell after a fight with another fan.

He was in critical but stable condition at a hospital, she said.