Will LeBron James stay in Cleveland?

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLEVELAND -- No ring. And, maybe, no King.

Now that Cleveland's NBA championship dreams have vanished, a cold, bitter truth has settled over a franchise and sports-tortured city in need of a hug.

It's over. This season, and maybe many more to come for the Cavaliers.

A stunning loss to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs has hastened a summer that came quicker than anyone imagined. Over six games, two-time MVP LeBron James and the league's best team in the regular season the past two years were exposed as an incomplete team that appears to be a long way from winning a title.

And with James heading off into free agency, Cleveland may have missed its best chance at ending a 46-year-old championship drought.