Cleveland Cavaliers: Looking Back & Forward

Upon hearing "Cleveland Cavaliers" in the year 2008, it's automatic that you'd think of the face of the franchise, and perhaps the face of the NBA, LeBron James. The name "Cavaliers" was chosen by fans in a contest, beating out the Jays, Foresters, and Presidents. In their first season as a thrown-together team coached by Bill Fitch, the Cavaliers would finish last with a 67-15 record.

Since then, many coaches (such as Don Delaney, Chuck Daly, George Karl, Lenny Wilkens, Mike Fratello, John Lucas, and Paul Silas) and players (such as Larry Nance, Mark Price, Nate Thurmond) have passed through Cleveland, paving their history. The Cleveland Arena was a very brief home for the Cavaliers, eventually moving to the Richfield Coliseum which was their home for nearly 20 years. The Cavaliers presently play at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Cavaliers have never won an NBA championship, though reached the NBA finals in 2007 after '03/'04 first round pick LeBron James came in and completely took the team on his back since his first day in the uniform. Since then, LeBron has won scoring titles, All-Star MVP awards, and it's only a matter of time before he earns his league MVP award. In 2008, with Mike Brown coaching the team, acquiring a talented point guard in Maurice "Mo" Williams, it is projected that the Cavaliers will (at least) reach the NBA Eastern Conference Finals with the defending champion Boston Celtics. In 2007, the Cavaliers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs, and with that experience behind him and arguably a more talented and indefinitely a more experienced team, many NBA enthusiasts believe this is the "Year of LeBron" where the NBA superstar could easily win his first MVP award and NBA title, both firsts for the franchise.