It’s a journey that Austin Carr calls the “yellow brick road.” And, as you might have guessed, AC’s not referring to the Emerald City. It’s that arduous road to the NBA Finals, and the Cavaliers are just beginning their journey.

Six current Cavaliers have completed the pilgrimage --- Kendrick Perkins, Mike Miller, Brendan Haywood and Shawn Marion have each hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy. LeBron James and James Jones have done it twice.

The Cavaliers are three games into the 2015 Playoffs, and have a half-dozen veterans who know how the rest of the process works. For Marion, who’s retiring after 15 NBA seasons, this will be the last time he’ll take the journey – and he’s nowhere near letting this final opportunity pass him by.

“I thought the most important guy off the bench tonight was Trix.” LeBron James following Game 1

One of the most beloved veterans on the squad, Marion took a minute before Thursday’s Game 3 shootaround to contemplate the regular season and where the Wine and Gold are headed next. “It’s been fun,” he said with a smile. “But it ain’t over yet.”

In his decade-and-a-half in the Association, Marion’s piled up the stats to go with the hardware.

Over the course of his career, Marion’s averaged 15.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest in 1,163 games with Phoenix, Miami, Toronto, Dallas and Cleveland. He’s shot at least 50 percent from the floor in six of his 15 seasons and is a .484 lifetime shooter. In terms of NBA elite, the man his teammates call “’Trix” is one of only four players in league history (joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone and Kevin Garnett) with at least 17,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals and 1,000 blocks.

This year, the 36-year-old forward has had a reduced role with the Wine and Gold and battled the injury bug midway through the season.

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“(This year) has been an adjustment for me,” admitted Marion. “I’ve never done this before. (And I won’t have to do it again.) So it’s definitely an adjustment. But at the same time, as long it’s all for a good purpose. You just have to keep your mindset right and keep the bigger picture in sight and everything will be fine.”

Marion has only played in the first game of Cleveland’s first round series with the Celtics. But in true Matrix fashion, he found a way to contribute in just 52 seconds of action – grabbing a pair of huge second-half steals and earning the postgame praise of the Cavaliers’ four-time league MVP.

“I thought the most important guy off the bench tonight was Trix,” lauded LeBron after the Game 1 win. “Trix comes in for those seconds at the end of the third quarter and gets back-to-back steals. Those possessions count, especially in the postseason where every possession is very important. He comes in and gives us two steals. At the start of the fourth, he sits right back down. That’s just a true professional right there.”

Marion knows that minutes will be hard to come by this postseason. He also knows that strange things – and matchups – pop up in the playoffs.

”That’s what happens on a good, deep team,” said the former UNLV standout. “But you never know -- the playoffs are all about matchups. So you never know how things are going to pan out, you just have to stay ready.”

Marion’s NBA journey began in Phoenix, when he was taken with the ninth overall pick in the 1999 Draft. And about midway through his 15th season, he decided that this would be his last. Letting the NBA life go will be tough, but Marion is ready for the next chapter.

“First, I’m gonna relax,” laughed Marion. “But my son turns one on Friday, and that’s huge. He’s in Chicago and I miss him; I’m not able to see him like I want to now. So he’s going to be the priority.”

Marion averaged only 4.8 points in 57 games with the Wine and Gold this season. Parts of the campaign were frustrating, but the Matrix closed the season in style – turning in one of the most memorable moments of the year.

“I think we have a great team, it’s a very dynamic team.” Shawn Marion

With Cleveland’s starters watching from the sidelines in the final game of the regular season against Washington, both teams’ reserves took the game into overtime. Brendan Haywood – who also won a title with Marion with Dallas in 2011 – put the Cavaliers ahead in the extra session’s closing moments. On Washington’s next possession, Marion swooped in for a steal at midcourt and went the distance for the game-deciding dunk. As he returned back down the court, he was all smiles – even after his teammates jubilantly mugged him on the hardwood.

Marion laughed about the final play of his regular season career. And after the contest, his head coach took the opportunity to sing his praises.

“I’m not on the committee and I’m not the determining vote, but in my opinion there will come a time where Shawn Marion will be in the Hall of Fame,” said Coach David Blatt. “That’s not a vain attempt to push his chances. I truly believe that. That’s a deserving, long-time, high-level, championship-winning, impactful player in the NBA. To make a play like that at the end of the game, whether it was the most important game or not, it just shows you what kind of special qualities that guy has.”

Marion knows what a Championship team looks like. And he thinks this year’s Cavaliers club has that look.

“I think we have a great team, it’s a very dynamic team,” said Marion. “Do I think we have the same dynamic that Dallas team had? No. It’s a different kind of team and a different kind of situation.”

The Matrix remembers the night his Mavericks squad won the whole enchilada, topping a heavily-favored Miami Heat squad after falling behind in the series, 2-1. And he wants that feeling just one more time before he hangs ‘em up.

”We celebrated that night in Miami as a team,” recalled Marion. “Everybody went. I even took my mother with me. But it didn’t sink in until, like, a year later. You celebrate, but it doesn’t sink in.”

“It’s a hell of an accomplishment and it’s a piece of history that you’re actually a part of,” concluded the potential future Hall of Famer. “You can always say you’re a champion, and it can never be taken away from you. The jewelry, yeah, that can be taken away. But the fact that you’re the World Champion – the best to do it, at the top of the mountain – can’t nobody say nothing about that. We’re definitely trying to back to the mountain. And I want to plant that flag right at the top.”