LeBron James’ shadow is long. In Cleveland they can tell you a thing or two about it. The exceptional basketball player led the Cavaliers to their only NBA championship in 2016. And that’s probably the only reason why the team’s jerseys can be seen every now and then in this country. Cleveland is a classic “small market team” – a small media market in the middle of the structurally weak rust belt of the USA. With James’ departure to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, the spotlight also disappeared. The Cavaliers were back where they were before his arrival: in the gray mediocrity of the league.
