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CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 09: Kyrie Irving #2 and LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers high five against the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the 2017 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 9, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 09: Kyrie Irving #2 and LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers high five against the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the 2017 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 9, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
The 2016 Finals was one of the most-watched series in NBA history. The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off an improbable comeback from being 3-1 down. No analyst or expert gave them a chance, and they had to do something no team in history had done before. In order to motivate them, their head coach, Tyronn Lue, came up with a $200 “Ponzi Scheme.” And this resulted in historic performances from LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
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The series was a lopsided affair at the start. The Golden State Warriors led by Unanimous MVP Stephen Curry blew the Cavs out in the first two games. However, the Cavs responded with a dominant victory in Game 3. But the Warriors responded in style with a massive victory in Game 4.
This put the Warriors in a commanding position to seal their historic season. Ty Lue knew he had to find a way to motivate his team. After game 4, he said to his team that if they don’t believe they can win, they shouldn’t get on the plane. He truly believed that they can win and he let the team know that.
How Tyronn Lue motivated LeBron James and the Cavs?
Game 5 saw historic performances from LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Both of them dropped 41 points each and the Cavs forced a game 6. But Lue knew that the job was not done yet, so he came up with an idea to keep the group motivated. He talked about this on the podcast with JJ Reddick.
Lue said, “So we won game 5, we are in the locker room and I had everybody in the locker room give me $200. So all the players, Mr. Gilbert, Griff, everybody. Everybody give me $200. They said, ‘What are you doing with this money?’ I wrapped it up and I actually got the video on my phone and I put it in the ceiling and said, ‘Are we coming back for Game 7 to get our money?'”?
The Warriors broke the NBA record for most wins in a season and they had a chance to be crowned ‘The Greatest Team Ever.” And the Cavs had a near-impossible task on their hands. They had to come back from 3-1 in the NBA Finals. No team in the history of the NBA had ever done that.
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However, Lue’s idea worked. The Cavs produced a dominant performance as LeBron James had another 41-point game. This forced a Game 7. The Cavs went on to achieve the impossible and win their first title in franchise history. And all of this started with their head coach motivating them by asking them for $200. Funnily, it became a “Ponzi scheme” when Lue took home all the money.
Written by
Edited by
Bagavathi Eswaran