Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA

In the NBA, there are many cities that dislike Qin Yue, and Cleveland is definitely one of them.

To this day, "The Dunk" completed by Qin Yue last season remains one of the most-viewed videos on YouTube.

If you don't understand the rise and fall of Cleveland's sports history, it's destined to be difficult for you to understand why Qin Yue's "The Dunk" caused such great hurt to Cleveland fans.

"As it turns out, the curse of Cleveland's memorable moments continues... They are destined to only live in other people's stories as the background."

The above comment comes from ESPN's summary when they selected Qin Yue's "The Dunk" as the NBA Dunk of the Year (2005).

Nowadays, when people mention Cleveland, they often automatically associate it with failure or dissatisfaction in life, but in fact, tracing back several decades, Cleveland sports fans lived in a completely different world.

During that time, Cleveland sports fans were filled with anticipation for success.

Under the leadership of Hall of Fame rusher Jim Brown, the Brown Team trounced the Baltimore Colts 27-0, winning the 1964 NFL Championship (the predecessor of the Super Bowl).

Back then, in Cleveland, no one specifically organized a parade. Because it was the Brown Team's 4th championship in 15 years, local sports fans in Cleveland were already accustomed to success and looked forward to the next one.

Then...

The nightmare for the city of Cleveland began.

If the Clevelanders of that time had known that in the ensuing decades they would repeatedly experience failure, they would surely regret not having held that championship parade back then.

In the 1986 AFC Championship, the Brown Team led the Denver Broncos 20-13 with 6 minutes left in the game. At that time, the Brown Team's supporters at the scene were already celebrating the team's upcoming first trip to the Super Bowl. Yet, in the last minute of regular time, legendary quarterback John Elway successfully found Mark Jackson and with a touchdown pass pushed the game into overtime.

This was the famous "The Drive" in Cleveland sports history.

In overtime, Broncos' barefoot kicker Rich Karlis scored a field goal from 33 yards, leaving Cleveland just a hair's breadth away from the Super Bowl.

A year later, the Brown Team faced off against the Denver Broncos again at Riggo Stadium.

On that evening, Ernest Byner first scored two touchdowns for the Brown Team, almost becoming a hero in Cleveland, but in the last moments of the game, with a clear path ahead and an opportunity for a direct touchdown, Byner made an inexplicable fumble.

This mistake, known to Cleveland sports fans as "The Fumble," once again made the Brown Team miss the Super Bowl.

Moreover, what stung the sports fans of Cleveland the most was that Byner, who was traded to the Washington Redskins in 1989, won the Super Bowl with them two years later.

This is a textbook example of a Cleveland story.

But it's just part of Cleveland sports history from one failure to another.

In 1997, the Indians were just three outs away from winning the World Series, and the staff at the site had already started moving champagne into the Indians' locker room.

However, relief pitcher Jose Mesa made a Byner-like catastrophic error, allowing Moises Alou and Charles Johnson to each make a hit, and then Craig Counsel's sacrifice fly tied the score for the Florida Marlins.

Ultimately, the Indians suffered a heartbreaking reversal.

From football to baseball, you can always trust that Cleveland will never fail to disappoint in the matter of screwing up.

What about basketball?

Sorry, the basketball history of Cleveland... might just be funnier than football and baseball.

In 1982, the exasperated The New York Times commented on the then-owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Ted Stepien: "Mr. Ted, you are absolutely the worst, worst, worst, worst, worst owner in basketball history, case closed."

Because in 1981, Stepien, who personally traded the Cavaliers' first-round draft pick to the Lakers in exchange for the Lakers' leftovers...

Had no idea how valuable the Cavaliers' first-round draft pick was.

Given that the Cavaliers only secured 15 wins during the 1981/1982 season, in an era without lottery rules, they managed to draw... oh no, they helped the defending champion Lakers draw the number one pick.

As a result, the Lakers became the first defending champion in NBA history to hold the number one pick.

Later, to prevent teams across the league from imitating the Lakers to fool Stepien, the big fool...

The league was compelled to issue the famous "Ted Stepien Rule."

This rule forbids a team from trading first-round draft picks in consecutive years.

In 1984, Stern, who succeeded O'Brien as the new league president, had to approach the Gund Brothers with utmost sincerity to help Cleveland drive away Stepien. (At that time, the Gund Brothers were the owners of the Cavaliers' home, Gund Field).

As it turns out, when the Gund Brothers took over, they indeed gave the Cavaliers' fans hope.

Then...

The Cleveland Cavaliers, who rose in the late 80s, unfortunately became the backdrop to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

In 1989, Jordan eliminated the Cavaliers with the world-famous "The Shot."

In the 1992 Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers were again defeated by the Bulls led by Jordan.

In the 1993 Eastern Conference Semifinals, it was still Jordan.

This time, Jordan didn't give Cavaliers' fans a shred of hope, directly leading the Bulls in sweeping the Cavaliers. However, in the fourth game of the playoffs, Jordan used the second "The Shot" to eliminate the Cavaliers, successfully reopening old wounds for Clevelanders.