One last shot

Cavaliers veteran Antawn Jamison desperately seeks his first NBA title

Associated Press

INDEPENDENCE

While breaking down game tape during a serious film session, the Cleveland Cavaliers sometimes will break into laughter.

Seeing Antawn Jamison toss in one of his unorthodox shots can be pretty funny.

“I hear the giggles,” Jamison said Monday. “I’m used to it.”

Floaters. Runners. Underhanded scoops. From odd, almost impossible angles, Jamison can make just about any shot.

Currently, he’s shooting for something else: an NBA title.

Acquired in a February trade from Washington to take pressure off LeBron James and serve in a supporting role to the superstar, Jamison scored 24 points in Sunday’s 121-98 win over the Chicago Bulls that gave Cleveland a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series.

The Cavs can advance to the second round with a win in Game 5 tonight, and Jamison believes they better put away their young, stubborn opponent.

“If you want to be a championship-caliber team and you’ve got a team on the brink, you’ve got to find a way to get it done,” Jamison said. “We realize this is a great opportunity and we have to take advantage.”

Jamison would know.

The 12-year veteran, who played with Golden State, Dallas and Washington before joining the Cavs, was once part of a young, talent-rich Wizards team that was on the verge of being a perennial title contender when it all fell apart.

In his second season with Washington, the Wizards beat Chicago in the first round before being eliminated by Miami. Jamison figured they’d go further the next time, but James and the Cavaliers eliminated Washington in the first round the next three years.

Then injuries and Gilbert Arenas’ legal woes fractured the Wizards, who were eventually split up and may need years to recover.

At one point, Jamison feared he had missed his title shot.

“It was very frustrating,” he said. “You start asking questions like: Why is this happening? You were part of a franchise that was so promising a few years ago and all of a sudden you don’t know what’s going to happen. You go from that to there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

At 33, Jamison, is running out time.

He hasn’t won a championship — of any kind — since he was 16. Now he’s on a team with James and Shaquille O’Neal, the latter desperately seeking his fifth NBA championship.

It’s now, or maybe, never for Jamison.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. “I don’t have another five or 10 years left in this body. The sense of urgency is there, not only with myself but with the rest of these guys. That’s why I think it’s a great fit because we all have the same mentality.”