On June 26, 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted the hometown kid that they felt would become their savior. Less than four years later, the Cavs are moving on to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. LeBron James’ childhood dream became reality last night with a 98-82 victory over the Pistons. King James and Co. will play for the NBA Championship. What a difference four years makes.

“This is like a dream,” James said, shaking his head. “This is probably the best feeling that I’ve ever had in my life.”

Following James’ historic performance in game five, it was pretty obvious that the Pistons would do anything to avoid a similar performance. The Pistons’ sole intention of stopping LeBron became their downfall. Sure, LBJ shot just 3-11. But he got the entire team involved, nobody more than rookie Daniel Gibson, who went 5-5 from downtown and scored 31 points. On this night, the Cavs weren’t a one man show. The only thing scarier than LeBron is LeBron and a sidekick, which is what Gibson has become.

So relax, NBA fans. The dreaded Spurs-Pistons series we all saw coming turned out to be a hoax. On Thursday night, the player that was hyped as the next You-Know-Who will make his first appearance in the NBA Finals. The city of Cleveland hasn’t won a professional sports championship in 43 years. Thanks to the heroics of LeBron James and Co., they might be able to end their decades of tragedy.