The Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2016 Finals. No one is arguing the existence of that fact. There’s no fake news here, no alternative facts. We love the truth, the truth is important and facts do matter. They won.

However, it seems as though they crafted a playbook of creating fouls from flops that they’ve relied on for the last two games of this Finals series, much as they did last season.

Is that a legacy you want to be proud of? “My team won! Disregard the flops, or using a player’s reputation to our advantage by having our star player step over, not around, that player to put his junk in the other player’s face to provoke him, so he can cry to the league to have that player suspended. That’s the only way we could win!”

Regardless of injuries in 2015, you cannot say that the Warriors employed similar tactics. They were never desperate. Mostly, people act as though that Finals never happened, in terms of their Warriors-hating narratives. Because they won it fair and square.

Sure, you can say the Cavs won it fair and square in 2016. I’m not mad at them for winning, good for Cleveland! They waited long enough and I’m happy for them as fans. But ... I wouldn’t argue it was fair and square.

And is that the way you want to get your wins? Do you want to be known as the team that whines to the league when you’re under the gun to get an advantage?

Look at the issue with Zaza Pachulia — obviously, he’s not Draymond Green, but you have the play with Iman Shumpert threatening to have him suspended for Game 5. Gee, is that the only way the Cavaliers know how to win? To have a player suspended?

I’m sorry, there is zero credibility for Iman Shumpert after seeing this:

Embarrassing. He's flailing before Curry even touches him. pic.twitter.com/AtlvIglMXi — TheLead (@theleadsports) June 10, 2017

How pathetic can you get?

Is this your game plan? Is this the way you want your team to be remembered, by finding any way to win, even if you look like a fool? Can’t relate.

My team plays hard. They play smart. They pass the ball. They make contested shots.

If your team has to resort to crying wolf? You are not the best team. You are the asterisk team.

You are the “LeBron cried to the league” team. You are the “Shumpert cried to the league” team. You are the “league tried to institute parity by giving you dozens of free throws to throw off the Warriors defense” team.

Can’t relate.

And honestly, if that were my team, I could not be proud of a win. Sure, the Warriors shot like crap, but when LeBron James is at the line every ten seconds of the first quarter, it doesn’t really matter what the Warriors do.

I walk the fine line of not buying into conspiracy theories, but what happened in Game 4 pushes the boundaries of my moderate temperament.

I respect the Cavaliers, but I would think they would aspire to better, cleaner wins.