How ‘Dreams and Nightmares’ became a part of the Cavs’ Eastern Conference Finals celebration

There were plenty of celebratory images after the Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night.

But one of the best was arguably a video clip from the locker room that featured Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” and dancing from assistant coach Damon Jones and rapping from players, head coach Tyronn Lue and general manager Koby Altman.

So why that song choice? Apparently, it has become a part of the coaches’ routine before every game this season.

“Before every game we put that song on,” Lue said on Tuesday when asked about the team’s celebration during a conference call with reporters.

“[Assistant video coordinator] Dan Geriot’s from Philly and [assistant coach] Mike Longabardi loves that song, so we play it before every game. Like after we have our team meeting, we come in here and play that song, Damon Jones dances to the song, and we get hype or whatever.”

Considering that the song has become so ingrained within the team, Lue said he just decided to bring the speaker into the actual locker room to add to the celebration on Sunday night.

“I just brought the speaker in after the game and all the guys got hype, got excited.”

Meek Mill is a Philadelphia native and an avid Philadelphia 76ers fan. LeBron James and other players around the league advocated for his release from prison earlier this season, and when he was released, one of his first stops was seeing the 76ers in action.

The rapper even shared the celebration video on his Instagram following the Cavs’ win.

Hopefully in the NBA Finals, the song keeps the Cavs “hype or whatever,” and they have more dreams than nightmares against the Golden State Warriors.