Two days after the Cleveland Cavaliers ended a city’s half century of sports misery, fans no doubt still don’t know how to take this all in. Joy, exhaustion and, let’s face it, confusion are feelings likely still felt by Cavs supporters as they prep for tomorrow’s championship parade.

However, while basking in the afterglow of Cleveland’s epic slaying of the Golden State Warriors, it can be difficult to forget the team’s most tumultuous moment of an at-times chaotic year. It was just about six months ago when the Cavs made a decision many thought only highlighted their dysfunction.

Sitting at 30-11, first place in the Eastern Conference, Cleveland fired coach David Blatt. Despite the fact he had just taken the team to the 2015 Finals, Blatt was ousted while Tyronn Lue was promoted in his place. Many people felt it was the final blow to the team, as it was assumed the rookie coach was in way over his head. All Lue had to do was fix all of the locker room strife, guide Cleveland through the postseason and deliver the first title in franchise history.

At the time, the Cavs looked foolish. Today, they look like geniuses.

Sure, there’s some hindsight involved here. At the time of Blatt’s firing, nobody honestly thought, “Well, the championship is now Cleveland’s to lose.” The Cavs winning the title makes it easy to forget how badly they were skewered across the NBA for their January move.

Cleveland was mocked by the media, fans and even other coaches. San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich took a dig at Cavs GM David Griffin during a postgame scrum. At season’s end, Griffin – who assembled the best team in the Eastern Conference – finished seventh in Executive of the Year voting, likely thanks to his firing Blatt.

In the days following Lue’s promotion, we heard plenty of reasoning why Blatt needed to go. He didn’t have the respect of his players, refused to call out LeBron James and struggled with in-game strategy.

Still, Griffin was making a big roll of the dice by promoting Lue and essentially telling him, “Go fix this and, oh, also win a championship.”

Today, the fact Lue did just that proves the Cavs made the right call.

Lue really did hold his players – even James – accountable just as he promised. He got the most out of Kevin Love when Blatt struggled to motivate him. He was able to patch up a locker room which had been splintering throughout the entire year.

Most importantly, though, Lue got the most out of his team. The Cavs roared through the first three rounds of the postseason, only looking mortal for a couple games. As a result, Lue became the first rookie head coach to win his first 10 playoff games.

It wasn’t until the Finals, though, where we really saw how much he meant to his team.

Find me a rookie coach who would watch his team fall to a 3-1 series deficit to the greatest regular season team in NBA history and not freak out just a little. All Lue had to do was something no one else in a similar situation has done – rally off three straight wins and bring home a championship. Obviously, it was no easy feat.

Somehow, it was a feat the Cavs coach was able to pull off. Sure, having James on your roster helps the cause. At the same time, Lue deserves a ton of credit for this title.

He didn’t let his players get too negative when the opportunity to do so was right in front of them. He guided the team to two road wins in the most hostile arena in the league. Lue put together game-plans which somehow led to a 73-win team’s first three-game losing streak in almost three years.

So, yeah, maybe promoting Lue midseason was a good call. It sure didn’t seem like one, as I’m one of the many who was left scratching his head when it all went down. However, Griffin may have had a finger on the pulse of his team after all.

If there are still members of the NBA who hold the Cavs in disregard for how they promoted Lue, I doubt the team is too worried about it. After all, there’s a championship parade to plan.