The Cleveland Cavaliers Are Cool Without LeBron James For the First Time in a Lifetime

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 18-12 this season. They haven't finished above .500 without LeBron James on their roster since 1998. The most wins in a LeBron-less season over that stretch is 33. At this pace, they should win 49 games. And most importantly, they are cool without LeBron for the first time in a generation. Just look at what Isaac Okoro did last night.

That is one of the most impressive and badass dunks in traffic you will ever see. That's on 6-foot-5 Kenyon Martin Jr., 6-foot-8 Usman Garuba and 6-foot-10 Alperen Sengun. Three guys and they all bounced off Okoro. This is the kind of dunk that deserves celebrating.

But maybe dunks aren't your thing. You're a modern basketball fan and you know three-pointers are more valuable. So how about this: Darius Garland is right on pace with Stephen Curry to make a ton of three-pointers in his career. That's Stephen Curry, the guy who just broke the record for most three pointers ever.

Ignore the fact that Garland has shot a much lower percentage from three. That's not the point. The point is that the Cavs have life. They have wins. They have optimism and they kind of look cool doing it without LeBron James for the first time this century. That's worth getting excited about.