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  • The President: Hello, everybody!

  • (applause)

  • Welcome to the White House, and give it up for

  • the World Champion, Cleveland Cavaliers!

  • (applause)

  • That's right, I said "World Champion" and

  • "Cleveland" in the same sentence.

  • (applause)

  • That's what we're talking about when we talk about

  • hope and change.

  • (laughter)

  • We've got a lot of big Cavs fans here in the house --

  • (applause)

  • -- including Ohio's Governor, John Kasich, and

  • his daughters, Emma and Reese.

  • We got some outstanding members of Congress

  • that are here.

  • And obviously we want to recognize Cavs owner Dan

  • Gilbert, who put so much of himself into trying

  • to make sure this thing worked.

  • (applause)

  • One of the great general managers of the game,

  • David Griffin.

  • (applause)

  • And the pride and joy of Mexico, Missouri --

  • Coach Tyronn Lue.

  • (applause)

  • I, also, before I go any further, want to give a

  • special thanks to J.R. Smith's

  • shirt for showing up.

  • (laughter)

  • I wasn't sure if it was going to make an

  • appearance today.

  • I'm glad you came.

  • You're a very nice shirt.

  • (laughter)

  • Now, last season, the Cavs were the favorites in the

  • East all along, but the road was anything but stable.

  • And I'm not even talking about what

  • happened on the court.

  • There were rumors about who was getting along with

  • who, and why somebody wasn't in a picture, and

  • Lebron is tweeting, and this was all big news.

  • But somehow Coach Lue comes in and everything

  • starts getting a little smoother, and they

  • hit their stride in the playoffs.

  • Yeah, everybody can sit down, I'll be here for awhile.

  • (laughter)

  • They start winning their first 10 games in the

  • playoffs, setting record after record for

  • three-point shooting.

  • But obviously what this all comes down to is a

  • team that, for the first time in NBA history, comes

  • back from being down 3-1 in the finals -- the first

  • team in history to dig themselves out of

  • a hole like that.

  • (applause)

  • And, I should add, that by knocking off the Warriors,

  • they cemented the 1996 Bulls as the greatest

  • team of all time.

  • (laughter)

  • So your President thanks you for that.

  • Now --

  • (baby cries)

  • -- I know, that's funny, isn't it?

  • Yes, it is.

  • See everybody is happy when their team wins.

  • The comeback was remarkable -- and you

  • learn about people when they're down -- against a

  • historically good Warriors team.

  • Cavs won Games 5 and 6 by double digits.

  • You had both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving becoming

  • the first duo ever to score 40 points

  • apiece in a Finals game.

  • (applause)

  • And then, in Game 7, the Cavs fall behind on the

  • road, only to fight back and lock up the title

  • with an unbelievable two minutes.

  • There was "The Block" -- what LeBron has said

  • was the defining play of his career.

  • (applause)

  • "The Shot" by Kyrie putting the Cavs up five.

  • "The Stop" by Kevin Love.

  • (applause)

  • Boy -- I mean, was moving.

  • (laughter)

  • I hadn't seen defense like that.

  • But it wasn't just those outstanding players, not

  • then and not throughout the year, because this was

  • always a team effort.

  • J.R. always seemed to hit those shots -- you know, "No,

  • no, don't shoot that!"

  • and then it goes in and, "Man, that a great shot."

  • (laughter)

  • You got Tristan Thompson who has as great of a

  • motor as anybody and put in the extra work to teach

  • himself how to shoot free throws with the wrong hand.

  • I should have tried that with some bill

  • signings around here.

  • (laughter)

  • You got Channing Frye who came in right over the

  • trading deadline and changed the tone of the

  • locker room, and his sharpshooting.

  • Richard Jefferson, Dahntay Jones providing leadership

  • and giving inspiration to all of us old people that

  • you can still do something at that age.

  • Iman Shumpert playing not only great defense and

  • scoring, but also delivered his wife's baby

  • in the bathtub, using a pair of headphones to tie

  • off the umbilical cord.

  • Now, that's something right there.

  • (laughter)

  • That was an all-star move.

  • Got the MacGyver flat top, which we miss.

  • (laughter)

  • And of course, there's the guy LeBron calls his

  • "favorite player of all time" -- James Jones.

  • (applause)

  • The two were a package deal -- six straight

  • finals appearances.

  • Their names even go together: LeBron James Jones.

  • (laughter)

  • But the truth is, LeBron wouldn't be LeBron without

  • his teammates -- Kyrie, Kevin, Tristan.

  • Michelle's brother, who was an excellent

  • basketball player, always says that you can learn a

  • lot about somebody's character by the way they

  • play basketball.

  • And when you see LeBron James, it is not just his

  • power and his speed and his vertical.

  • It is his unselfishness, it is his work ethic, it

  • is his insistence on always making the right

  • play, it is his determination -- all of

  • which makes him one of the great players of all time.

  • And you saw it in those last three games, put up

  • some of the most staggering statistics in

  • Finals history.

  • He did it the year before despite injuries, dragging

  • his team along to make a very competitive series.

  • You saw it when this kid from Akron broke down and

  • fell to his knees when he realized that he had

  • finally fulfilled a promise that he had made

  • all those years ago and delivered that

  • championship back to Northeast Ohio.

  • (applause)

  • So this is a player and this is a team that knows

  • what this title means to Cleveland.

  • This is a city that's, throughout sports history,

  • been through a lot.

  • The fumble.

  • The drive.

  • Jordan over Ehlo.

  • A whole lot more.

  • But through it all, Cleveland was always

  • "Believeland."

  • And that's why the Cavs have always given back to

  • their fans and the community that's been so

  • loyal to them.

  • Over the last 22 years, they've given more

  • than $23 million to local charities.

  • (applause)

  • And more than just the money -- players and

  • coaches made about 200 visits annually to

  • schools, hospitals, food kitchens, and more,

  • including assisting educational programs that

  • reach more than 100,000 kids in Northeast Ohio.

  • (applause)

  • And these Cavs exemplify a growing generation of

  • athletes that are using their platforms to speak out.

  • We've seen Kevin on combatting campus sexual

  • assault; LeBron on issues like gun violence and

  • working with Michelle to help more kids go to

  • school, go to college.

  • His foundation is doing something incredible --

  • paying college tuition for 1,100 kids from Akron.

  • (applause)

  • I should mention that, as we were walking out, Dan

  • Gilbert has been unbelievable in the work

  • he's been doing in Detroit -- his hometown --

  • and giving back.

  • And finally, earlier today, the Cavs met with

  • Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and my senior

  • advisor, Valerie Jarrett, to discuss steps they're

  • taking to help build understanding between law

  • enforcement and the Cleveland community, part

  • of a league-wide effort to build stronger communities

  • all across the country --

  • (applause)

  • -- including holding open conversations so we can

  • begin to bridge divides and defuse tensions, and

  • see each other as one American family.

  • It's really important work.

  • It's one -- just one of a number of recent efforts

  • we've been proud to partner with the NBA

  • during my time as President.

  • From the league's support of My Brother's Keeper

  • initiative, to the mentoring initiatives, to

  • Michelle's Let's Move!

  • and Joining Forces efforts, the NBA has been

  • a model for positive change, and the fact that

  • it's not just a responsibility of

  • government, it takes all of us -- businesses,

  • nonprofits, athletes, role models, working together

  • to achieve the progress that we seek.

  • So I know that Cleveland could not be happier

  • and prouder of having this trophy.

  • But this was already a championship group of

  • guys, even before last year, and you should be

  • very proud of them.

  • (applause)

  • Give it up for the world champs one last time.

  • (applause)

  • You guys got anything to say?

  • Come on, Kevin.

  • Mr. Love: So from the 2016 World Champion Cleveland

  • Cavaliers, we wanted to present this '16 Obama jersey.

  • The President: I like this.

  • Mr.Love: Come on, guys.

  • You got anything else?

  • The President: Now, the only thing is, though, I

  • don't -- these sleeves get tight.

  • Can I tear these out?

  • (laughter)

  • Can I rip them?

  • MR. LOVE: You can rip them.

  • The President: Can I rip them?

  • Mr. Love: Ron rips them.

  • I'll show you exactly how to do it.

  • (laughter)

  • The President: I'm joking.

  • (inaudible)

The President: Hello, everybody!

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