CLEVELAND -- What a year it was for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
From heated players' only meetings in January to a roster revamp in February to another NBA Finals run in June, LeBron James' departure, Collin Sexton's arrival and James' return as an opponent, you'd be hard pressed to find a franchise in sports that packed more drama in the past 12 months.
Suffice to say, the Cavs were consistently a hot topic of conversation around Cleveland in the last year. With that in mind, let's take a look at the five most-read Cavs stories on WKYC.com in 2018.
5. NBA referees admit they made mistake not calling foul on LeBron James' fastbreak
With four minutes remaining in the third quarter of Game 2 of the 2018 NBA Finals, LeBron James received an outlet pass from Kevin Love and raced toward the basket, only to stumble out of bounds over a sliding Stephen Curry.
A whistle blew, but no foul was called.
Out of bounds, Cleveland Cavaliers.
Golden State Warriors ball
The play also resulted in a technical foul on Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue, allowing the Warriors to stretch their lead to 9 when Cleveland appeared poised to cut it to six. A day later, the NBA Referees took to Twitter to admit the missed call -- not that at it served as much of a consolation prize.
Thanks in part to that crucial stretch, Golden State earned a 122-103 victory, en route to what was ultimately a four-game Finals sweep.
Read the story here.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers G J.R. Smith charged with criminal mischief
What would Cavs' year-in-review be without a story about J.R. Smith?
And although the shooting guard was responsible for plenty of news in the past year, our most-read story came when he was charged with criminal mischief following an incident at a nightclub in New York City in which he allegedly stole a cell phone from a fan before throwing it into a nearby construction zone.
Per TMZ, Smith appeared at an NYPD station in Chelsea in August and was issued a desk appearance ticket to appear in court at a later date. In October, Smith accepted a plea deal in which he paid the fan $600 in exchange for a dismissal of the charges.
Read the story here.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers F Larry Nance Jr. celebrates marriage to wife Hailey in waterfront ceremony
In June, a picture of Larry Nance Jr. marrying his longtime girlfriend Hailey in an Akron courthouse made the rounds on social media.
As it turned out, the celebration didn't stop there.
One month later, the new Mr. and Mrs. Nance enjoyed a moral formal ceremony, with a waterfront wedding in Hawaii. As Mr. Nance would go on to explain at Cavs media day, the courthouse ceremony was merely a formality, with the Hawaii celebration serve as their more official wedding.
It also appears that Nance, a Revere grad, and his bride will remain Northeast Ohio for the foreseeable future. In October, the fourth-year center agreed to a 4-year, $45 million extension with his hometown team.
Read the story here.
2. Why Kawhi Leonard's trade request could be bad news for the Cleveland Cavaliers
Shortly after the end of the NBA Finals, All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard informed the San Antonio Spurs that he would like to be traded.
And although the Cavs were never considered a serious suitor for the former Finals MVP, Leonard's trade request did threaten to decrease their chances of retaining LeBron James.
With Leonard seemingly available, teams looking to lure James could pitch the idea of pairing him with the former Defensive Player of the Year. In particular, the Lakers were thought to be a serious contender to add both James and Leonard -- and potentially also Paul George.
James, of course, wound up taking his talents to Los Angeles, but Leonard didn't follow -- at least not year. In July, the Spurs agreed to send Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, where he is currently enjoying an MVP-caliber season.
Read the story here.
1. REPORT: Lonzo Ball out if Cleveland Cavaliers SF LeBron James joins Los Angeles Lakers
As rumors of James joining the Lakers picked up steam, one of the most popular theories became that he wouldn't do so as a free agent, but would instead force the Cavs to send him West in a sign-and-trade.
And according to Chris Haynes, who at the time worked at ESPN, one player whose name was consistently being brought up in such talks was Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball.
Only such deal never came to fruition, with James signing as a free agent in Los Angeles, where he is currently teaming up alongside Ball. Months later, however, one Ball did make his way to Northeast Ohio, with Lonzo's younger brother, LaMelo, enrolling at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, where he is currently spending his senior season.
"Since LeBron left, I brought you a Ball boy," LaVar Ball, Lonzo and LaMelo's father announced upon LaMelo's arrival.
Read the story here.
