The 2015-2016 NBA season was truly one for the books, filled to the brim with drama and unexpected twists and turns that put basketball fans on the edge of their seats.
There was the 73-9 regular season of the Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry’s unanimous MVP season, and of course, every Warriors fan’s worst nightmare: the 3-1 comeback of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 finals.
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Against all odds, the Cavaliers stunned the then-defending champions and made franchise history as they ended their 52-year championship dry spell. They also made NBA history, becoming the only team to overcome a 3-1 hole in the finals.
And beneath all this success, Iman Shumpert revealed, was a dysfunctional squad that had to overcome chemistry issues while facing a historically dominant Warriors team.
“It really was dysfunction,” Shumpert said during his appearance on the All-In podcast. “We won because of dysfunction.”
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Cleveland’s ‘random little problems’
Cleveland was coming off a dominant regular season as well, leading the Eastern Conference with a 57-25 record, with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love at the helm.
They barrelled through the East with ease in the playoffs. The team swept the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds before defeating the Toronto Raptors in six games in the conference finals.
The Cavaliers seemed invincible, a notion destroyed by the Warriors when they barged into the finals, hoping to defend their title. And fate thought it was the perfect time to unravel Cleveland’s internal chaos.
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According to Shumpert, the crestfallen Cavaliers were in disarray, as they suffered from low morale and disappointment. Who wouldn’t be? They were down 3-1 in the 2016 finals, their second shot to bring home a ring for the city.
“We just had a squad that it was like, dog, we wanna win so bad that it’s like you got all type of issues coming up,” Shumpert added that no one knew who to look for leadership as egos clashed within the team.
“You knew Kai (Kyrie Irving) wanted to be Batman. You feel me? You knew I didn’t wanna play 2-guard no more. I don’t wanna share minutes with J.R. [Smith]. I actually like playing with J.R. I don’t wanna go back – I don’t wanna sub him out,” he said. “We had all type of random little problems.”
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The King became the voice of hope
Both teams had a lot at stake during the finals series. Cleveland was hoping to rebound from its past finals loss, while Golden State was looking to seal off its historic season with the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Golden State seemed to pick up where it left off as it routed Cleveland in Games 1 (104-89) and 2 (110-77). Although the Cavs bounced back with a strong 120-90 Game 3 victory, the Warriors put them in peril when they took Game 4.
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But James, who was then eyeing his third title, was not going home without fulfilling his championship promise to Cleveland. And James led by example on the court, posting 41 points back-to-back in games five and six.
Meanwhile off the court, the King’s voice gave the team hope. As recalled by Shumpert, James’ rallying cry lit a fire inside the Cavs that proved enough to raise their morale.
“We were down, I remember being on that bus, LeBron started breaking down what gonna happen,” Shumpert said. “‘We’re gonna win this game right here.’ Then we finna go home. They don’t even wanna play us over there… Then we [are] gonna come here, pressure on.”
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After all the dysfunction and disarray, it was Cleveland’s hunger to win that prevailed. And now the Cavs are forever NBA champions–and the way they did it is permanently etched in the league’s history books.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.