A well-placed joke about the Golden State Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals seems to never get old, but one Cleveland Cavaliers fan made his version more subtle.
Cleveland native Kory Siverd got a license plate commemorating the event after his beloved Cavs won their first NBA title, but you won’t find the phrase “3-1 lead” anywhere on it. Siverd’s vanity plate takes a second to register for those who aren’t automatically thinking about basketball, but once you get it, it’s pretty brilliant.
Siverd told the Cleveland Plain Dealer he was surprised when he saw his license plate being shared on Reddit and Twitter, and although he wasn’t looking for any attention, he’s glad Cavs fans are enjoying it.
“I don’t want to forget it and I don’t think anybody else should either,” Siverd said. “I spend a lot of time on the subreddit and saw someone spotted my license plate. It was popular there, even more popular on Twitter, and it just exploded.”
Siverd’s dad told the Plain Dealer his son had to explain that the L’s and W’s represented the Cavs’ record in their series against the Warriors, and his sister said she didn’t get it at first but was jealous she didn’t think of it once she figured it out. Mostly, it’s been a hit with friends and family.
“I thought it was a really good idea,” Siverd’s friend Dan Luciano told the Plain Dealer. “It was funny, simple, subtle enough to where if someone saw it looks like a random set of letters, but if you know anything about the Cavs or sports in general you would look at it and think eventually realize what it was.”
Thumbnail photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images