5 Greatest Players in Cleveland Cavaliers' franchise history

Cleveland Cavaliers have been a dominant team in the league for quite some time, especially since LeBron James joined its ranks. With Cleveland Browns having disappointing seasons year after year in the NFL, it is the Cavaliers that have represented Cleveland in the best way, played for the pride and brought laurels to the city.

It is very unlikely at this point in time that you talk about Eastern Conference finals and not think about Cleveland Cavaliers. It is very much given even before the regular season starts that they are going to come out of east dominating whoever they meet in the playoffs. They have reached the finals of the last four seasons including 2017-18.

While LeBron James has been a huge part of their dominance and the centerpiece of their success after his arrival into the league, some of the greatest basketball players the league has ever seen have played for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Here are the top five players in the history of the franchise:

#5 Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Zydrunas Ilgauskas at his jersey retirement ceremony

Born in Lithuania, Zydrunas Ilgauskas has played in the league for 13 years. Standing at 7 feet 3 inches, he is one of the tallest players to have ever played in the league. He has spent a large part of his playing career with the Cleveland Cavaliers playing in 12 of his 13 seasons for them. He averaged 13 points, 11 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game over his long career.

During his 13-year playing career, he has been very efficient and shot 47.6% from the field. Ilgauskas ended his career prematurely because of the continuous foot injuries. In 2012, Zydrunas who is a two-time All-Star has been hired as an assistant to Cleveland Cavaliers GM Chris Grant. In 2015, Ilgauskas was hired as assistant coach for Saint Ignatius High School’s boys' basketball team.

He has appeared in 771 games for the Cavaliers and is currently second only behind LeBron James. He is the franchise leader in blocked shots (1269) and offensive rebounds (2336). The Cavaliers have retired Ilgauskas' jersey in 2014.

#4 Larry Nance

Larry Nance

An American National who had spent most of his playing career with Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers, Larry Nance leads the franchise in the blocks per game category. He is remembered for his seven seasons in Cleveland. A large part of the team's success in the late '80s and early '90s is attributed to Larry Nance because of high efficiency taking mid-range jumpers and also his consistency on the defensive end.

He was a three-time All-Star (1985, 1989 1993). Larry Nance was part of the All-Defensive First Team in 1989, the season that saw Cleveland Cavaliers finish 57-25 with the second-best record in the NBA that season. Nance was also part of the All-Defensive Second Team twice in 1992 and 1993. He shot below 50 % from the field only once in his career which was also his last season in the NBA. Larry Nance was also the winner of the 1984 NBA Slam Dunk contest.

His son Larry Nance Jr. is part of the Cleveland Cavaliers 2017-18 roster.

#3 Brad Daugherty

#43 Brad Daugherty

A five-time All-Star (1988, 1989, 1991-93), Brad Daugherty's career has been cut short because of continuous back issues. He was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers as the first overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft. He was part of the league for only 8 seasons and played all the seasons for the Cavaliers. Daugherty is considered as the franchise's greatest center even today.

The Cavaliers organization retired his jersey No. 43 during the 1997 season. He averaged 19 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game over his 8-year long career. Brad shot over 53.2% from the field for most of his career. He is third in total points scored and total rebounds grabbed on the franchise records list. Daugherty was also part of the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1987 and All-NBA Third Team in 1992. Brad currently serves as NBA and college basketball analyst for ESPN.

#2 Mark Price

Mark Price shoots mid-range jumper against the New Jersey Nets

A career full of accolades, Mark Price who is a four-time All-Star is one of the best free throw shooters in the history of NBA. He was part of the Cavaliers' success in the late 80s and early 90s along with Larry Nance and Brad Daugherty. An excellent point guard who had a really good playmaking ability, he always involved his teammates and played a key role in building a strong Cavaliers team.

He made it into the postseason seven times with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was part of the All-NBA First Team in 1992. He averaged 15.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists per game over his career. His free throw percentage stands at 90.39 making him one of the very few players in the NBA history who shot above 90 percent.

He also had one of the rarest achievements when he joined 50-40-90 club in the 1989 season when he shot 52.6 % from the field, 44.1 % from the 3 point range and 90.1 % from the free throw line. He was widely regarded as the greatest Cavalier of all time till the early and mid-'00s.

#1 LeBron James

2016 NBA Finals - Game Seven

Absolutely no surprise here. It is LeBron James who is widely considered as one of the greatest if not the greatest players the game has ever witnessed. A 14-time All-Star, LeBron James has played a key role in Cavaliers becoming what it is today. The Cleveland Cavaliers have become synonymous with LeBron James and he leads the franchise in almost all the categories including total points, steals, field goals to name few.

LeBron has carried the team on his shoulders and ended Cleveland's 52-year-old drought when the Cavaliers won the NBA Championship in 2016 against the Golden State Warriors after being 1-3 down in the finals. He was adjudged the Finals MVP in 2016 for his performance, where he led both teams in all five major stat categories of points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.

A four-time regular season MVP, he has won two of those with Cleveland ( 2009, 2010 ). The Cavaliers have become a dominant force no one would want to face because of LeBron James. He has been to eight straight NBA Finals and four of them (2015-2018) have come with his hometown franchise.