As the ‘dog days’ of summer dwindled towards yet another training camp for a Cavalier nucleus that has been intact over the course of a presidential term, the Cavs’ Front Office foreshadowed to the fanbase that Cleveland will have another Icy season for 2024. Issac "Ice" Okoro, whose #35 has been threaded in Wine and Gold for the last four seasons, is a great representation of what this team and their fanbase has been going through in recent memory: growing pains. The trials and tribulations from Okoro’s rookie season, fresh off being a top 5 pick in the NBA Draft, until the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against the Boston Celtics, has given an impression like watching one of our children growing up right before our eyes.

Whether you are watching the games in your living room with your favorite beverage or are at ‘The Rock’ in-person, you can feel the heart-felt sensitivity for Issac from Cavs’ fans. Every loose ball that he dives to retrieve, or a corner three that he line-drives and rattles in the hoop, it is hard not to feel a distinct energy radiating from the Cavs’ faithful. This is a player that has been in an out of the starting lineup since his rookie year, battling bumps and bruises to his body throughout the season, to get back out on the floor with relentless energy defending often the opposing team’s best perimeter player. These kinds of players win the hearts of Cleveland fans.

Although the sensitivity to Okoro is genuine and obvious, there are always two sides to a relationship in people’s everyday life. Whether it is with your child, or your favorite team’s player, sometimes your patience reaches a tipping point. There are times when Okoro’s current inabilities really show, and we as fans start to think ‘big picture’ of what the long-term version of this is. Much like if your child misbehaves in the classroom or on the playground, you start to visualize all sorts of alternatives and solutions in your mind. This is when the sympathy for Issac starts to dissolve, and the eagerness for results begin to overcome our compassion for a person we welcomed into our Cavs’ family with open arms when he was still a teenager coming into the professional stage.

Nevertheless, the ink is dry, and the financial situation for Okoro is set up for the future; However, the length of his tenure in Cleveland is still up in the air. The Cavs are a team with high expectations for this upcoming season, and the President of Basketball Operations, Koby Altman, will certainly always look for ways to upgrade his roster for a strong playoff push. Regardless, the bulk of Cleveland’s fanbase will be enthusiastic to bring on a new season with #35 on the current roster, even if by the second game the enthusiasm turns to anxiousness. Well, that is what you sign up for by being a sport’s fan, and it’s inevitable in our everyday lives, as well.