CLEVELAND -- About an hour before the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers took the floor for the first time this training camp against anybody other than themselves, LeBron James weaved his way through a crowded pregame locker room looking as worry-free as a monk in meditation.
There was more media on hand than normal for a preseason game. And not just because of LeBron. Cleveland's opponent on Sunday night, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, had attracted more than a dozen international journalists thousands of miles to Quicken Loans Arena.
But it all seemed like business as usual for the four-time MVP.
James had headphones on and was singing along to the song he was listening to out loud as he made his way over to his locker. There was his No. 23 Cavs jersey spread out on the floor, waiting for him to slip it on for the first time in more than four years for a game with referees and rules and whatnot. The song? "Holy Ghost" by Young Jeezy. And the lyric James uttered as he stood in front of the same corner locker that housed him for his first seven years in the league could have been written for the scene that was playing out that very moment.
"I said we came so far but yet it feel so surreal," James rapped as he bopped his head.
These Cavs, with James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving divvying up the touches, and Love, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao divvying up the rebounds, and Dion Waiters, Mike Miller and Shawn Marion divvying up whatever's left after that are certainly for real.
Not that you needed their 107-80 throttling of Maccabi to tell you that.
But there were sequences on Sunday that provided glimpses of what this thing can look like when it's fully realized.
Like the time Irving got a steal and immediately turned it into a transition opportunity, leading to a wide-open 3-pointer for Miller on the wing because James filled the opposite lane and kept charging right toward the hoop, drawing the defense's attention.
Or the time the Cavs had an inbounds play under their own basket and Love, acting as a release valve, flared to the top of the key to receive a lob pass over the defense that he converted for the catch-and-shoot triple.
Or the time James was on the left wing and whipped a skip pass directly to Irving for an open look in the left corner, the rest of the Cavs players spacing the floor so well that he had passing lanes open to him that have been clogged for most of his career.
Or the time that didn't work out, but was just as intriguing, when Love made the extra pass to an open James on the wing, who put the ball on the floor and got all the way to the rim but kicked the ball out to Waiters for an open 3 rather than go for the layup. Waiters missed the shot, but it was a model of unselfish play.
"Early on, that's a good problem to have," Cavs coach David Blatt said when asked about the over-passing. "Later, the recognition of what the right shot is should come, and better starting with that than starting with guys not willing to share the ball at all. That's how I see it."
There are plenty of little things like that left to be ironed out. When Kobe Bryant was playing with Pau Gasol and an emerging Andrew Bynum a few years back, he said the Lakers had to figure out "who eats first," and the same goes for Cleveland. Waiters took the most shots (14) for the Cavs on Sunday, followed by Irving (13), James (11) and Thompson (10). Love took just six. They'll also have to get up to speed with Blatt's defensive expectations, something the coach has harped about all camp. They made baby steps in that department, holding Maccabi to just 26.2 percent shooting overall in the second half (including a 3-for-20 mark from 3), after allowing them to shoot 39.5 percent (and 5-for-11 from deep) in the first half.
While Blatt admitted to being nervous for the first time in years before the game, going up against the team he left in June to pursue the Cavs opportunity (James observed his coach being "kind of uptight" in the days leading up to the matchup), how the Cavaliers play with one another is far more important than how they perform against any opponent at this point.
So the fact that Love didn't get many shots, but still grabbed 11 rebounds and was one off the team high in assists with four, is significant. The fact that Thompson started, but Varejao still played with enough energy off the bench to grab 15 boards in less time than it took Thompson to haul in 13, is noteworthy.
While the Cavs know they have an abundance of talent, they are still figuring how it will go together, what type of team they'll be, how they'll win.
After the Cavaliers dominated the glass 64-36 against Maccabi, James declared: "We shouldn't lose a rebounding game [all season]."
Maybe that will be their calling card.
Then again, before the game, Love spoke about how he expects to play a lot of center this season. Maybe a small-ball lineup with Love at the 5, James at the 4, Irving and Waiters in the backcourt and either Miller or Marion at the 3 will be what they come to be known for.
This Cleveland Project, this Return of the King, it's as real as it gets. It's happening. It's now.
"We're only in our infant stage right now," Love said. "We know we're going to continue to get better. But it's going to be fun to compete every night."
It's just the possibilities of where it can go that make it feel a little surreal.
