CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers have lost their voice today.
And we have lost a friend.
Fred McLeod, the television voice of the Cavs since 2006, passed away Monday night at the age of 67.
We all spent many a fall and winter night with Fred and his sidekick Austin Carr in our homes, calling the long and winding road of Cavaliers basketball.
Fred did it with style, professionalism, and an unmatched passion.
That passion was rewarded on that June night in 2016, when from the rafters of the Oracle Arena, he called that epic Game 7 win of the NBA Finals, sealing Cleveland's historic NBA championship.
Fred was a sportscasting lifer. From Cleveland way back in the 1970s, to Detroit for decades, then back home to describe two amazing runs with LeBron James.
LeBron expressed his sympathies on social media today to the man who called thousands of his points.
The voice of a team becomes family in a city. You get to know everything about them. Fred McLeod always wanted the Cavs to win, and even when they were down on the scoreboard, they were never out of the game.
Fred preached hope.
So to the man who coined catchphrases like 'he's shuffling his shoes on a travel' or 'he went right down Euclid Avenue for a breakaway dunk.'and 'the bottom for a three that swished through,' we say goodbye.
Fred McLeod called every Cavs win 'a Wine and Gold winner.' He certainly was one.
MORE: Jim Donovan and Dave "Dino" DeNatale have more on the life and career of Fred McLeod on the Donovan Live Postgame Show below.