{"id":687346,"date":"2026-06-06T04:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687346\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T04:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:56:08","slug":"when-snl-turned-lebron-james-cavaliers-into-a-national-punchline-our-point-guard-is-a-roomba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687346\/","title":{"rendered":"When SNL turned LeBron James’ Cavaliers into a national punchline: “Our point guard is a Roomba”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the historic events of the 2016 NBA Finals, which included the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win their first NBA Championship, it was easy to assume that the Cavaliers players and fans were on cloud nine.<\/p>\n

After all, they had just beaten the Golden State Warriors<\/a> juggernaut that went 73-9 during the regular season. With a core of experienced vets led by LeBron James<\/a>, Kyrie Irving<\/a> and Kevin Love<\/a>, there was no reason that the Cavaliers wouldn\u2019t be considered title favorites for the coming years.<\/p>\n

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But then the Warriors signed Kevin Durant<\/a> ahead of the 2016-17 season, forming arguably the most talented superteam in NBA history.<\/p>\n

As expected, the Warriors and Cavaliers tore through the regular season and the playoffs to set up another NBA Finals matchup. This time around, however, there would be no miraculous comeback, as the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in five games, with Durant winning Finals MVP and his first NBA title.<\/p>\n

As if getting pummelled in the Finals wasn\u2019t painful enough, Irving requested a trade from the Cavaliers and was ultimately dealt to the Boston Celtics<\/a> in exchange for Isaiah Thomas<\/a>, Jae Crowder<\/a>, and Ante Zizic<\/a>. The 2017-18 season would end up being one of the weirdest Cavs seasons ever, as at one point the team had James, Love, Thomas, Dwyane Wade<\/a> and Derrick Rose<\/a> on its roster.<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, Thomas\u2019 health became a concern, while Wade and Rose really didn\u2019t pan out and all three would be gone after the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

By the time the playoffs came along, James and Love were playing alongside the likes of Rodney Hood<\/a>, George Hill<\/a>, Jordan Clarkson<\/a>, and Larry Nance Jr.<\/p>\n

Still, James carried this almost unrecognizable Cavaliers roster through the playoffs and back into the NBA Finals. To nobody\u2019s surprise, the Cavs would end up getting swept by the Warriors<\/a>, who went on to win their second-straight NBA title and their third in the last four seasons.<\/p>\n

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Throughout that postseason run, James nearly averaged a triple-double, going for 34 points, nine assists, and 9.1 rebounds in that 22-game stretch. The next best Cavalier? Love averaged just 14.9 points.<\/p>\n

James\u2019 herculean effort to lead this particular Cavaliers roster back to the NBA Finals became the story of the postseason, and it even transcended the world of basketball and became the topic of a sketch on NBC\u2019s Saturday Night Live.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Other Cavaliers\u201d<\/p>\n

In May of 2018, right around the time the Eastern Conference Semifinals were underway, SNL released a sketch that didn\u2019t make it to air but was uploaded to their YouTube channel, entitled \u201cCleveland Cavs Promo.\u201d The sketch, which starred guest host Donald Glover, as well as other SNL cast members, poked fun at the sorry state of the Cavaliers\u2019 roster outside of James.<\/p>\n

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The sketch started out looking like a typical promo for the Cavaliers<\/a>\u2019 playoff run, then descended into hilarious madness by exaggerating the kind of players James had to carry in the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever LeBron needs, we\u2019ll get it done, as long as what he needs isn\u2019t basketball,\u201d a pair of ‘The Other Cavaliers’\u201dsaid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The sketch then humorously goes into the roles that the other members of the team play, like giving James high-fives, giving him massages, holding his third and fourth cellphones, sweeping up his chalk, and picking up his laundry.<\/p>\n

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As the sketch goes on, the gags get funnier and funnier as the other Cavaliers get worse and worse, with the supposed \u201cplayers\u201d shooting \u201cGranny-style\u201d, being heavy smokers, and one being a dog.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur point guard is a Roomba,\u201d said \u201cKevin Love\u201d who\u2019s played by SNL cast member Mikey Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still learning the rules, and I\u2019m a slow learner!\u201d exclaimed then-cast member Pete Davidson\u2019s character.<\/p>\n

The sketch ends with the other Cavaliers saying thank you and sorry to LeBron.<\/p>\n

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Related: “Escaping bullets to the NBA” – Stephon Marbury reflects on his Coney Island roots<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet to return to the Finals<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to poke fun at the 2018 Cavaliers, but the fact of the matter is that they\u2019re the last Cavaliers team to ever even make it to the NBA Finals.\u00a0Following that season, James left for the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, and the Cavaliers began what can be considered a rebuilding phase.<\/p>\n

They finished at the bottom of the conference for the next three seasons. Then they had their first winning season in 2021, finishing with a 44-38 record, which was enough to earn them a spot in the Play-In Tournament, wherein they\u2019d ultimately lose and fail to make the postseason for a fourth straight year.<\/p>\n

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Since then, the Cavaliers have slowly rebuilt themselves into a contender. Led by Donovan Mitchell<\/a> and a new core, they finally returned to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2026 for the first time since James left town.<\/p>\n

Yet for all the success they’ve enjoyed, that 2018 run remains one of the most remarkable chapters in franchise history. After all, it wasn’t just basketball fans who were stunned that James dragged that roster to the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Related: LeBron James reveals the secret behind his legendary handshakes: “I have no idea…”<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Basketball Network<\/a> on Jun 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School<\/a> section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the historic events of the 2016 NBA Finals, which included the Cleveland Cavaliers coming back from a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[294750,298575,2242,8174,13335,13054,38388,298574,2243,167573,159828,32315,5556,30735,764,3013,1055,355,298576,130888,99,95132],"class_list":["post-687346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-2016-nba-finals","tag-ante-zizic","tag-boston-celtics","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-derrick-rose","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-dwyane-wade","tag-george-hill","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-isaiah-thomas","tag-jae-crowder","tag-jordan-clarkson","tag-kevin-durant","tag-kevin-love","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-lebron-james","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-nba","tag-rodney-hood","tag-snl-cast-members","tag-sports","tag-the-nba-finals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}