If you ask any Clevelander what the defining moment was of the 2007 postseason, a vast majority will recall what remains one of the signature greatest moments of LeBron James’ career — the time he scored 29 of the Cavs’ final 30 points of their Game 5 double-overtime victory over Detroit at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
It is a great memory, one that remains vivid in my mind because I was at that game, sitting along the baseline, and was witnessing what to this day remains the greatest one-man effort by an NBA player that I have ever witnessed in person (and that is saying something, because I also covered Michael Jordan’s “flu game” against Utah in the 1998 Finals.
But another vivid recollection from the 2007 postseason came in the finals in Game 3 — the first game of the series that was played in Cleveland.
I call it the “swallowed whistle” game, and to this day I continue to shake my head at the injustice that the Cavs endured in the 75-72 loss that dropped them into a 3-0 hole.
The “swallowed whistle” does not reside among the pantheon of famous Cleveland sports failure moments that have become known as “The Shot” — Jordan’s game-winner over Craig Ehlo in the 1989 conference finals — “Red Right 88,” “The Drive,” and “The Fumble” from Cleveland Browns NFL lore, and the collective curses of Chief Wahoo, Rocky Colavito and Jose Mesa (blown save in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series).
But it sticks in my mind like a snapshot, because it was just so wrong that it defied explanation.
For those who do not recall:
The Cavs trailed by 3 points with 4.9 seconds left and were inbounding from near midcourt. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich instructed his players to commit a foul before anyone could launch a shot, and Bruce Bowen followed the instructions he was given. As LeBron James received the inbounds pass, Bowen shoved him in the back. And a split-second after the shove was delivered, James launched a shot from well behind the 3-point arc.
As I wrote at the time for ESPN.com, it was the type of play that would lead to a continuation call about 90 percent of the time — which meant that James should have had an opportunity to go to the free throw line for three shots and a chance to tie the game.
But no foul was called.
All three referees — Bob Delaney, Bernie Fryer and Dan Crawford — swallowed their whistles. It might have been the most egregious non-call I have ever witnessed, and what I wrote that night still resonated as strongly now as it did then: “I’ll have a hard time all summer fathoming how James could not get that call in his own building, in the NBA Finals, no less.”
The moment begged for some righteous indignation from the Cavs, but everyone from coach Mike Brown to GM Danny Ferry to owner Dan Gilbert invoked the “we’re a no excuses team” mantra, which I found appalling. When someone has done you wrong and you are too timid to state the obvious — even at the risk of it sounding like sour grapes — you are doing a disservice to your ban base and the game itself. Every time I head that oft-repeated “we’re a no-excuses team” line, it takes me back to that infamous Game 3.
You can see the foul by Bowen and the close-up of James saying to Delaney “He fouled me. Right there” at the 48-second mark of this video:
Again, it was an injustice that I cannot reckon with even to this day, eight years later. The loss dropped the Cavs into a 3-0 hole, and the Spurs finished off the sweep two nights later.
Two weeks from now, on June 9, there will be another Game 3 at The Q, and my expectation is that it will produce a slightly higher point total than what the Spurs and Cavs managed (the 2007 Game 3 was the lowest scoring NBA Finals game since 1955).
It’ll be a swing game, as Game 3s always are, and the hope here is that it leaves a vivid memory that is slightly more pleasant than the one I just told you about. By now, my expectation would be that LeBron has earned enough respect to get the crucial call at the crucial moment. But we shall see. As any Clevelander would tell you, something bad is bound to happen.
Chris Sheridan is publisher and editor-in-chief of SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.