Cleveland sports fans got an unexpected surprise for Christmas: the return of the Cavs.
“Well, we were together last night when we found out, at a friend’s house” said Christina Colosimo of Silver Lake. “Everyone went crazy. We couldn’t believe it.”
Just after 149 days, the NBA lockout is officially over, marking it as the second-longest lockout in league history.
Now, the locals are ready to see their team hit the court.
“Win, lose…or lose some more, we love our sports teams,” said Michael Nowicki of Garfield. “It’s not nescessarily about the players. It’s about the city. We need small business to prosper here. We’re hurting a little bit.”
It’s believed the NBA’s 66-game season will start on Christmas day. The Cavs are expected to take on Toronto Raptors on Dec. 26 at the Quicken Loans Arena.
“It’s great. It’s awesome. I can’t wait to see the new Cavs play,” said Frederick Sowell of Cleveland. “I think we got a good team this year. I think we’ll do real good.”
The return of the Cavs also means a boost to downtown business, with 33 games expected to be in town this year.
“When the Cavs didn’t start, we didn’t go on a hiring spree, like we normally would have,” said Robert Shoens, general manager of the downtown Winking Lizard. “We would have hired 10 or so people, so now we’re going to have to do that, which is good for the city, even for us, alone the thousands of people that work at the Q.”
Shoens expects games against the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers will do especially well.
Yet, fans like Ryan Hruska are especially excited for the new recruits.
“I really want to see Kyrie Irving,” Hruska, of Brook Park, said. “I really want to see how he plays in the pros. He had a really short season at duke last year and it was really exciting to see them pick him up. It’s going to be an exciting season.”