James leads Cavaliers onto NBA's ultimate stage

~ Cleveland faces the Spurs in Game 1 of the finals tonight.

SAN ANTONIO -- Headphones tilted back on his head, LeBron James walked the Cleveland Cavaliers through the shadowy tunnel and into the arena's gleaming lights -- and their first NBA finals.

"We're here now!" James shouted.

He brought them.

And he will decide how far they'll go.

Tagged as the face of the league and saddled with huge expectations, James arrived at basketball's ultimate stage Wednesday as the Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs practiced for the last time before today's Game 1 at AT&T Center.

The climactic setting is a new one for the Cavaliers. It was only four years ago when they won 17 games while playing in front of as many empty seats as filled ones at home.

"It was like we weren't even in the NBA," said center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, drafted by the club in 1996. "We were in a deep depression as an organization."

Those gloomy days were B.LB. -- Before LeBron.

The 22-year-old has been a household name in the U.S. since he was an Akron, Ohio, high school phenomenon, and his growing popularity has made him just as well known on the playgrounds of Beijing.

In these playoffs, his second trip to the postseason, James has elevated his multidimensional game to a higher level, pushing the Cavaliers within four victories of Cleveland's first major sports title since 1964.