Fans greet Cavs at Hopkins Airport day after championship victory

Scores of fans flocked to the grounds just outside the I-X Center on June 20 to greet the Cleveland Cavaliers as they exited the plane, fresh from the franchise's first NBA Championship victory in its 45-year history, which marks Cleveland's first major sports team championship since the 1964 Browns.

Music, dancing and confetti punctuated the event, which staffers at the facility worked through the night to prepare for, setting the stage (literally) for one of the most memorable events in Northeast Ohio's recent sports history, a stone's throw from the border between Brook Park and Cleveland.

The footage of the final minutes of Game 7 captured the crowd's attention as if it were happening in real-time. Just as some people cannot help getting drawn into their favorite movie, which they've seen again and again and know the outcome, fans stood should-to-shoulder, memorized as they relived the anxiety and elation of they felt during the live broadcast.

They held their breath as the Warriors' Draymond Green shot an open three-pointer (and let it go when he inevitably missed) cheered at LeBron James' block of Andre Iguodala and went ecstatic as Kyrie Irving hit the 3-pointer, which many have already anointed as "The Shot" to replace the game-winner Michael Jordan made against the Cavs that broke the hearts of Cleveland fans during Game 5 of the 1989 NBA playoffs.

A chant of "M.V.P." arose from a collection of spectators as James lay on the floor holding his wrist, seemingly in agony, and gave way to more cheering as he climbed to his feet and made one-of-two free throws to give the team a four-point lead with mere seconds remaining in the team's storybook season.

Fans scanned the skies overhead, hoping to catch a glimpse of the team's plane. Former Cavs player turned broadcaster Austin Carr addressed on-lookers who were also treated to musical performances and other entertainment. 

When it finally rolled up outside the hangar at Atlantic Aviation, just across Riverside Drive from the I-X Center, the mood was electric.

Having attended several live watch parties during last year's NBA Finals, I can tell you that the crowd on hand was as exuberant as ever as they greeted each and every player with an out-pouring of support and gratitude as they exited the plane.

Predictably, James received the biggest ovation as he hoisted both the 2016 Championship trophy and his M.V.P. trophy skyward for all to see.

There were few complaints voiced by among the thousands of a attendees, many of whom patiently waited in the 90-plus-degree heat for well over an hour and a half before the team's plane arrived.