Iman Shumpert Credits Cavs’ Dysfunction for Historic 2016 Championship With LeBron James

It seemed as though the 2015/16 Golden State Warriors would coast through the postseason to win their second consecutive NBA championship. After all, they put up a 73-9 record in the regular season, setting an unprecedented record. But in the Finals, they ran into the monster truck called the Cleveland Cavaliers, who, against all odds, derailed the Golden State train.

Led by LeBron James and supported by the likes of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, the Cavs defeated the Warriors in seven games despite trailing 3-1 at one point in the series. It’s the best moment in the careers of many at the Cavs, including Iman Shumpert, who looks back on the victory with fondness and a hint of bizarreness.

Shumpert, who played a key role in defense that season, recently spoke about how the ’16 team was dysfunctional. It didn’t affect them, though. It was what helped them win the championship against a team that was incredibly difficult to beat at the height of its powers.

“We had, like, a squad that was like, do we wanna win so bad that we got all types of issues coming up. Like, you knew Kyrie wanted to be Batman, I didn’t wanna play two god no more. I don’t wanna share minutes with J.R. [Smith]. I actually like playing with J.R.,” Shumpert said on the All In podcast. “We had all types of random little problems.” 

These problems plagued the regular season for the Cavaliers, despite what the standings show. They were No. 1 in the East, but had lost 25 games compared to the Warriors‘ nine. And reports of discontent within the locker room were spreading like wildfire among the media, who soon started writing articles about how there were issues with chemistry within the Cleveland-based team.

These reports lit a fire within the Cavs, who then stepped things up a notch. “We dust through the whole Eastern Conference. By the time we get into the [Finals], we gotta play the Warriors, and we had just lost the year before to them,” Shumpert continued.

“We was down, I remember being on that bus, LeBron started breaking down what gonna happen. ‘We’re gonna win this game right here.’ Then we finna go home. They don’t even wanna play us over there… Then we gonna come here, pressure on…” 

Shumpert, of course, was likely referring to the morale within the squad while they were three games down and on the brink of a second consecutive loss to the Warriors. But it was LeBron who lifted them, and rightly so, carrying the team over the line for a memorable championship win.