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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2016)
Diversity in the Workplace Page 8 June 22, 2016 S PORTS Photo by a nthony g eorgis Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) dribbles against Cavaliers forward LeBron James Sunday in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Cleveland won the game 93-89 and claimed their irst NBA championship. P Astor A PPreciAtion Fellowship MBC Celebrates Pastor Johnny Pack IV and Sis Angela Pack with their 29th Appreciation July 17th @ 3:00pm. 4009 N. MISSOURI AVE Guest Speaker: Bishop Garry Tyson, Pastor of Goodwill Baptist Church, Seattle, WA James Makes Good NBA star brings championship to Cleveland (AP) -- LeBron James cradled the shiny gold trophy and strug- gled to sum up what might be his sweetest championship yet, the one he is so proudly bringing home to his native northeast Ohio just as he promised to do when he returned to the Cleveland Cava- liers two summers ago. James and his relentless, nev- er-count-them-out Cavs pulled off an improbable NBA Finals come- back, and Cleveland is title town again at long last. Unfazed by the criticism and chatter all series, James delivered on a vow to his home state and brought the Cavs back as they be- came the irst team to rally from a 3-1 inals deicit, beating the de- fending champion Golden State Warriors 93-89 on Sunday night to end a 52-year major sports cham- pionship drought in Cleveland. “I’m happy to be a part of histo- ry,” James said, then added, “I’m home. I’m home. ... I’m at a loss for words. This is unbelievable.” In a testy series of blowouts — and a few blowups — the win- ner-take-all Game 7 provided the thrilling inale with James as the inals MVP disarming two-time reigning MVP Stephen Curry and his record-setting Warriors. Playing his sixth straight i- nals, James almost single-hand- edly carried the Cavs back into this series and inished with 27 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds as the Cavs captured their irst championship in franchise history and gave their city its irst major sports winner since the Browns won the NFL title in 1964. He also had three blocked shots and two steals, overcoming ive turn- overs. “Cleveland! This is for you!” James bellowed in his postgame interview before being announced as inals MVP. An emotional James fell to the loor when this one ended with a second win in six days on Golden State’s imposing home loor, sur- rounded by his teammates. Only seconds earlier, he went down in pain with 10.6 seconds left after being fouled by Draymond Green while going for a dunk, then came back out to make the second of two free throws. After four successful seasons in Miami and two titles with the Heat, James came back to the Cavs in hopes of winning the ti- tle this franchise and champion- ship-starved city so coveted. It took a second try against Golden State after Cleveland lost to the Warriors in six games last year. Kyrie Irving scored 26 points to cap his brilliant inals, including a 3-pointer over Curry with 53 sec- onds left. “It was a fairytale ending,” Ir- ving said. Curry sat briely on the bench to take in the scene after the War- riors made their last basket with 4:39 left. “It hurts, man,” Curry said. “I’m proud of every single guy that stepped foot on the loor for our team this year. ... Hopefully we’ll have many more opportuni- ties to ight for championships and be on this stage. This is what it’s all about.” Diversity in Golf Championship A national organization found- ed to increase the participation of African Americans and other peo- ple of color in golf brings more than 200 people to Portland this week for its 62nd championship tournament, scheduled Wednes- day through Saturday. The Western States Golf Associa- tion, founded in 1954, has over 1,000 members in over 33 afiliated clubs in six Western states. The group also sponsors hundreds of junior golfers through the local clubs and annual tournaments and instruction. Thanks to support from Port- land’s Visitor’s Development Fund and Travel Portland, the association selected Portland as the host city for its annual tourna- ments for the second straight year.