Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are part of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Central Division. Established in 1970, the Cavaliers have experienced a mix of struggles and successes throughout their history. The team gained prominence with the arrival of superstar LeBron James, who played for the franchise during two separate periods, leading them to their first NBA Championship in 2016. As of the 2023-2024 season, the Cavaliers hold a win/loss record of 2,027 wins and 2,312 losses, representing an overall win percentage of .467.
Playing their home games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cavaliers are known for their team colors of wine, gold, navy blue, and black. Besides their on-court achievements, the team is also committed to community engagement through the Cavaliers Community Foundation, which has raised over $25 million for various local programs. The franchise has seen contributions from several Hall of Fame players and coaches, highlighting its significant impact on both the sport and the local community.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Team information
- Inaugural season: 1970
- Home arena: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio
- Owners: Dan Gilbert
- Team colors: Wine, gold, navy blue, and black
Overview
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team that plays in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded as an NBA expansion team alongside the Portland Trail Blazers and the former Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers), the Cavaliers first took the court in 1970. By the 2023–2024 season, the team amassed an all-time record that included 2,027 wins and 2,312 losses for an overall .467 win/loss percentage. Despite suffering some remarkable lows in the franchise’s early years, the Cavaliers benefitted from having NBA superstar LeBron James play two stints in Cleveland during the 2000s and 2010s. James made the team competitive and led them to an NBA title in 2016. Cleveland is also a financially successful franchise, worth an estimated $3.35 billion in 2023.
In addition to their on-court activities, the Cleveland Cavaliers also maintain an active commitment to philanthropy. Much of the team’s work in this realm is carried out through the Cavaliers Community Foundation, a charitable organization that provides support for a variety of community programs to help improve the lives of people in need. Launched in 1993, the Cavaliers Community Foundation has raised more than 25 million dollars for a variety of Cleveland-area nonprofit organizations serving education, health, recreation, employment, and entrepreneurship needs. It also seeks to improve the life skills of children, families, and young adults throughout the region.
History
The history of the Cleveland Cavaliers began with the NBA’s 1970 expansion. That year, the league welcomed a trio of new expansion teams: the Portland Trail Blazers, Buffalo Braves, and Cleveland Cavaliers. The newly founded Cavaliers were owned by noted entrepreneur Nick Mileti. In addition to the Cavaliers, Mileti owned Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Cleveland Indians and a short-lived World Hockey Association (WHA) team called the Cleveland Crusaders. Under Mileti’s direction, the Cavaliers took the court for the first time on October 14, 1970, in a 107–92 loss to the Braves.
With a roster of second-rate players acquired through an expansion draft, the Cavaliers struggled through their first few seasons, even finishing last in the league on several occasions. One of the rare bright spots during this period was the team’s selection of shooting guard Austin Carr in the 1971 NBA Draft. With Carr as their star player, the Cavaliers began building a more competitive team and eventually found some success on the court. That early success came to a head in the 1975–1976 season, when the Cavaliers made the postseason for the first time and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Boston Celtics. In the two years that followed, the Cavaliers continued to be a competitive team, returning to the playoffs for two more short postseason runs. Through the remainder of the 1970s and well into the 1980s, however, the Cavaliers entered a sharp decline that saw the team finish with losing records for some time. In large part, this downturn was the result of questionable decision-making in the team’s front office and constant turnover of the head coach position.
The Cavaliers fortunes began to improve when Wayne Embry became the team’s general manager in 1985 and subsequently brought in Lenny Wilkens as head coach. Embry and Wilkens rebuilt the flailing Cavaliers into a revitalized team with a distinct focus on defense. After missing the postseason for nine of the previous ten seasons, the Cavaliers returned to the playoffs in 1988. Despite being quickly eliminated by the Chicago Bulls, the Cavaliers were once again a contender. The following year, the team again met the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs only to be eliminated in the decisive fifth game thanks to a legendary Michael Jordan buzzer-beater that came to be known as “The Shot.” The Cavaliers’ next big run came in the 1991–1992 season, when the team tied its all-time best regular season record and went on a playoff run that ended with yet another loss to the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Cavaliers continued to be a regular contender through much of the 1990s before entering another slump at the end of the decade and into the 2000s. After bottoming out in the 2002–2003 season, the team landed the first selection in the 2003 NBA Draft and used it to acquire emergent high school basketball star LeBron James. With James at the helm, the Cavaliers eventually returned to playoff contention in 2006 and even made it to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. For the next few years, the Cavaliers continued making regular playoff appearances. Their success came to an abrupt end, however, when James made the controversial decision to leave the team after the 2009–2010 season in favor of signing with the Miami Heat. Over the first few years of the 2010s, the Cavaliers’ poor play allowed the team to acquire a number of key players—including point guard Kyrie Irving—through the draft. In addition, “King James” made his triumphant return to Cleveland in 2014. This eventually led to a turnaround that saw the Cavaliers emerge as an Eastern Conference favorite in the 2014–2015 season. That year, the Cavaliers returned once more to the NBA Finals in what ultimately turned out to be a losing effort against the Golden State Warriors.
After a stellar 2015–2016 season, the Cavaliers embarked on a remarkable playoff run during which they lost only two games before meeting the Warriors in an NBA Finals rematch. Despite dropping three games and landing on the brink of elimination, the Cavaliers staged a historic comeback to beat the Warriors and win the first NBA championship in franchise history. In each of the next two seasons that followed, the Cavaliers again met the Warriors in the NBA Finals only to fall short of claiming another championship. During the off-season following the second of these losses, James again left the Cavaliers to join the Los Angeles Lakers. As a result, the team entered yet another slump that culminated in the Cavaliers posting a paltry 19–63 record in the 2018–2019 season. After several lean years, the Cavaliers slowly rebuilt themselves into a playoff team by the 2022–2023 season.
Notable players
A number of former Cleveland Cavaliers players has been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Point guard Lenny Wilkens spent two seasons with the Cavaliers in the 1970s. During that time, he scored more than 2,700 points and made more than 600 rebounds. Just over a decade after his retirement, Wilkens returned to the Cavaliers as the team’s head coach, a role he filled from 1986 to 1993. He was subsequently inducted into the Hall of Fame as both a player and coach. Center and power forward Nate Thurmond also played two seasons with the Cavaliers in the 1970s. During that time, he scored more than 500 points and made more than 700 rebounds. Point guard Walt “Clyde” Frazier spent the final three seasons of his celebrated NBA career with the Cavaliers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During his time in Cleveland, Frazier scored more than 900 points and made more than 200 rebounds. Towering center Shaquille O’Neal spent the 2009–2010 season with the Cavaliers. During that single season, “Shaq” scored more than 600 points and made more than 350 rebounds. Other key members of the Cavaliers to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame include Coach Chuck Daly, Coach Bill Fitch, and General Manager Embry.
There have been many other notable Cleveland Cavaliers as well. Undoubtedly the greatest Cavalier of all time, future Hall of Famer LeBron James played a total of eleven seasons over two separate stints in Cleveland in the 2000s and 2010s. In addition to establishing himself as one of the NBA’s all-time greatest players, James led the Cavaliers to the first league title in team history. During his time as a Cavalier, James scored more than 23,000 points and made more than 6,000 rebounds. Point guard Mark Price played with the Cavaliers from 1986 to 1995 and made a name for himself as the NBA’s best free-throw shooter in that time. While in Cleveland, Price made more than 1,800 free throws and scored a total of more than 9,500 points. Center Brad Daugherty spent his entire eight-year NBA career with the Cavaliers in the 1980s and 1990s. One of the team’s all-time great defensive players, Daugherty scored more than 10,000 points and made more than 4,000 defensive rebounds during his time in Cleveland. Point guard Kyrie Irving was one of the Cavaliers’ top players from 2011 to 2017. During that time, he scored more than 8,200 points and made more than 1,200 rebounds. Power forward Larry Nance played seven seasons with the Cavaliers in the 1980s and 1990s. A defensive maverick known for his great leaping ability, Nance blocked more than 1,000 shots during his tenure with the team. He also scored more than 7,200 points and made more than 2,500 defensive rebounds while in Cleveland. Some other notable Cavaliers include Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Austin Carr, World B. Free, and John “Hot Rod” Williams.
Bibliography
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“Cleveland Cavaliers.” Sports Team History, 2020, sportsteamhistory.com/cleveland-cavaliers. Accessed 22 Apr. 2020.
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Fleming, Frank. “Cleveland Cavaliers.” Sporting Post, 25 Oct. 2023, www.sportingpost.com/team-history/nba/cleveland-cavaliers/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.
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