Cleveland Cavaliers 2016: Parade Route, Date, Start Time For NBA Finals Celebration

It’s been more than half a century since the city of Cleveland had a championship to celebrate, but the wait is finally over following the 2016 NBA Finals. Cleveland will have a parade for the Cavaliers on Wednesday in honor of the team’s first-ever title.

The parade begins at 11 a.m. EDT outside Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavs last played Thursday, defeating the Golden State Warriors behind 41 points from LeBron James in Game 6 of the finals. The parade starts on East 6th Street, going down Huron Road and Prospect Avenue before getting to the primary route on East 9th. It ends on St. Clair Avenue between Malls A and B. There, a special event will honor the Cavs.

The Cavaliers pulled off the greatest comeback in NBA history Sunday night, winning Game 7 on the road against the Warriors after coming back from a 3-1 series deficit. The team celebrated its championship Sunday night in Las Vegas, returning to Cleveland on Monday afternoon to a warm reception from local fans.

Cleveland has had perhaps the worst sports luck of any American city. With a professional team in the country’s three biggest sports, Cleveland had gone 52 years without a title. The Cleveland Browns won the NFL championship in 1964, though the team still hasn’t ever reached the Super Bowl.

The Indians last won a championship in 1948, failing to win the World Series in the 1990s when they appeared destined to do so. The team made the playoffs every year 1995-99, coming up short in the World Series in 1995 and 1997, blowing a ninth-inning lead in Game 7 of their most recent Fall Classic appearance. The team had a 3-1 series lead in the 2007 ALCS, but like the Warriors, they lost three straight games and the series.

James led the Cavs to the finals in 2007 and 2015. The team was swept by the San Antonio Spurs nine years ago, and they lost three consecutive games last year after taking a 2-1 series lead.