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'It's just home': Larry Nance Jr. returns to Cleveland Cavs, ready for playoff push
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- 'It's just home': Larry Nance Jr. returns to Cleveland Cavs, ready for playoff push
INDEPENDENCE — Now that Larry Nance Jr. is back in Northeast Ohio full time, he's looking forward to two things: a double cheeseburger from Swensons and the chance to assimilate with a Cavaliers roster coming off of a 64-win season.
Nance, 32, is returning to the Cavs after a roughly four-year absence. He was a key contributor for Cleveland for parts of four seasons and then had stints with the Portland Trailblazers , New Orleans Pelicans and, last season, the Atlanta Hawks .
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Nance is a Revere grad and the son of Cavaliers legend Larry Nance Sr. Northeast Ohio has always been his home base, and where he has felt the most comfortable. When asked about places he wanted to visit first, he didn't even wait for the question to be finished before saying, "Swensons. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Swensons."
It's not just the burgers (he added that he only splurges with his order during the offseason) that had Nance wanting to return to Northeast Ohio.
"Man, right off the bat, it's just home," Nance said July 8 at the team's practice facility, which happens to be about 3.8 miles from the nearest Swensons. "It sounds so corny, but just walking back in the building, it's just so many smiling faces that I got to see and be around and really know as people that I get to invest and put some more time back into our relationship. I don't necessarily have a word or direct emotion, but it's all positive."
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Nance is now entering his 11th NBA season , a career that has already included stints with five teams (he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers ). Through it all, he knew he'd be back in Cleveland eventually. The timing ended up being right this summer as the Cavs fill out the back end of their roster.
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"I knew I would [be back], I didn't know when," Nance said. "Playing for the Hawks, for the Pelicans, yeah, I want them to win every game, but I was a Cavs fan. So watching the playoffs the past few years, it was hard not to just sit on the couch and kind of look, tap my wife and be like, 'I can help. Like, I could really do that.' And this is a team that's really got a chance to win it all."
That potential playoff push is the main reason why the Cavs' path and Nance's have converged now — both hope they're ready to take the next step.
The Cavs have been eliminated in the second round in each of the last two years, though Kenny Atkinson's first season came with 64 regular season wins and an expectation that Cleveland can be among the East's elite.
Nance, meanwhile, has been given a small taste of playoff action. And as his career has progressed, he now feels ready for the moment in a way he wasn't in the past.
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"Coming from LA, I wasn't ready as a player. I don't think I was ready to compete at that level — I'm ready now," Nance said. "I've been ready. And that's something that I wanted to check off my own box first."
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It's something many players have echoed in the past: the playoff experience can't be explained, it has to be experienced.
"I think it's the physicality. I didn't know what the playoffs were," Nance said. "The physicality, the intensity, I've seen that and I've been in a few playoff series since then. … I've got the itch. I think I was a little nervous going into the first time when I got here. I'm hungry for it now. That's all I want to do."
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In the simplest terms, Nance returned to Cleveland to get a burger and a ring.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Larry Nance Jr. signs with Cavs with goal of making a playoff run
