Why are the Cleveland Cavaliers so good?

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There were no bigger expectations placed on a team heading into the 2014-15 season than that of the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron was coming home, they nabbed Kevin Love, had a new internationally-renowned coach, and all the weight of a redemption narrative to keep the flames burning.

But when the season started they were bad. Really bad. A couple of trades here, a couple of adjustments there and now the Cavs are second in the East, with their eyes once-again squarely on the one thing Cleveland hasn’t tasted in over 50 years—a championship. So we asked our editors: why have the Cavs been so good? The answers may surprise you.

LeBron James dumped the headband

Cleveland Cavaliers v Dallas Mavericks

Abandoning a signature look after so many years is a pretty bold move, but so far it’s worked out well for ‘Bron. It also makes it easier to identify his twilight years when you’re doing an image search.

Kyrie Irving vanquished the Uncle Drew Succubus

Thought initially to be a friendly companion to Kyrie, we can now surmise that Uncle Drew was just draining his energy to keep the ancient Uncle Drew alive. Pretty sneaky, Pepsi Max.

JR Smith isn’t distracted by New York nightlife

What we had all suspected turned out to be mostly true as Smith recently admitted it’s easier to focus on basketball now that he’s not in the City That Never Sleeps. Instead most of his nights now look like this-

Stranger Than Paradise

Iman Shumpert is fueled with rage over the show Empire

Iman thinks the phenom Fox show “Empire” is ripping off his and his girlfriends’ look. Well… okay.

Kevin Love isn’t doing much of anything

Kevin+Love+Orlando+Magic+v+Cleveland+Cavaliers+_OQUz9o9cE8l

You finally found your role on the team! Good luck collecting your max contract from the Knicks next year.