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June 12, 2020wfnycraig – Today’s roundtable is not only sports-related, but it lets us talk about the greatest moment in Cleveland sports history for our lifetimes. Now that we’re a few years removed from LeBron and company bringing the trophy home to Cleveland, which players from that team are you honoring by putting their number in the rafters? Obviously, we don’t need to spend much time on LeBron, right? Dude should have a statue in town already, let alone an inevitable number retirement.
andrew – LeBron, Kyrie, and Kevin get their numbers retired without question or hesitation. The day after each of them retire their numbers need to go up. Beyond those three, I would absolutely retire Tristan’s number as well. He was beyond integral to the playoff success of the team and has been a leader on and off the floor for almost a decade.
andrew – I wouldn’t be totally opposed to also putting JR’s number up there so all the starters on the title team are memorialized. But I don’t feel as strongly about him as I do Tristan.
mgbode – The greatest Cleveland sporting moment of my lifetime was when the second strike was recorded with one out in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. The worst Cleveland sporting moment of my lifetime was the rest of that game.
For the topic at hand,
- Nate Thurmond is in the rafters despite posting 5 points and 6 rebounds per game in his time with the Cavs.
- The late 80s Cavs got three retired numbers and they only won an Eastern Conference Semi-Final round once.
Given that the second-LeBron-era Cavs made it to the Finals four times with a championship, you can consider whomever you’d like from that team.
• LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love?
Duh.
• Tristan Thompson? He has the second-highest playoff WinShares to LeBron of any Cavalier in history.
So, yeah.
• Channing Frye? Highest playoff true shooting percentage of any Cavalier in history (minimum 100 field goal attempts), so essential to getting the ring (59% from 2 / 54% from 3 / 86% from FT / 2.0 WS in just 391 minutes.)
Why not?
• Fan-favorite Matthew Dellavedova who literally put in so much on-floor effort he ended up being hospitalized during the 2015 NBA Finals?
Not going to argue.
• Anderson Varejao for doing as much as any Cavalier helping clinch that Game 7 victory for Cleveland in 2016 plus his efforts on the Cavs in previous seasons?
Hey, let’s not quibble over what jersey he was wearing.
wfnycraig – Tristan Thompson is really the conversation-starter here. Not that I care what outsiders think, but it seems to me that he might be somewhat mock-worthy to the NBA media elite. There’s so much sentiment in that circle that TT is an over-drafted, overpaid NBA player who wasn’t deserving of his “max” even though he received a max before the max became the max.
andrew – For sure. If he played the same career with the Lakers, no chance he’s even considered. But I’m ok with that. We’re not the Lakers, we’re the Cavs. And that was our first title ever, and Cleveland’s first title since 1964. The context matters deeply, and if the Cavs want to dedicate a memento to the winning culture that Tristan helped establish, I think they should.
wfnycraig – But you can imagine what Twitter would be like, right? Again, I am beyond that, but you just know it’s coming.
andrew – Yep, it is. I’m guessing some will try to pick at retiring Kyrie and Kevin’s jerseys as well. I just don’t care anymore. The Cavs have that title banner hanging in the rafters and anything else just doesn’t matter to me anymore. That’s the best part of winning a title, and that’s why I’m happy with honoring anyone who helped make it happen.
mgbode – Should the Cavaliers consider some type of hokey jersey or banner to go up there for the fans? Sort of like the Indians 455 sign? Maybe a 216 in 2016 banner?
andrew – I would vote no for that. I think the Cavs have an awesome fanbase and The Q, as it was called at the time, was one of the best playoff atmospheres in the NBA. But I just don’t think the fans need that kind of nod. I didn’t like it when the Indians did for the sellout streak, either. As you said, I just find it kind of hokey.
wfnycraig – I’m also a no on something hokey for the fans. The jerseys of the players are for the fans, and I don’t need any reminder of how much it felt like we fueled that team and vice versa during that time period. We’re talking about a fanbase that made it financially viable for Timofey Mozgov to have endorsement deals around town.
davesterling – It used to be 20562, but I don’t know the capacity after renovations.
gerbs – We also, we as the fans, have the pictures Reflog posts from the parade that pop up anytime anybody does anything en masse. I’m pretty sure we are covered.
joshpoloha – The Big Three are obvious like you guys have already mentioned. Besides LeBron, Kyrie, and KLove, Tristan Thompson should get his number retired as well. Some may think he was overpaid (even though his max wasn’t even the max, technically), but his versatility and leadership were vital and played a huge part in the Cavs winning it all in 2016. If anything, he has become an even better leader since then. I’d also consider JR Smith simply because that would mean all five starters would have their numbers retired. Plus, I mean, it’s JR. His shirtless celebrations in the days following the Warriors blowing a 3-1 series lead is something we will all remember. Heck, a Cleveland T-shirt company even made a shirtless JR shirt. (Then again, there’s a T-shirt for everything, right?) I’m fine with any numbers being retired from that team, but 0, 2, 13, and 23 (and even No. 5) should be the obvious ones. They gave many of us Cleveland fans the happiest sports-related moment of our lives. Do whatever you want.
scott – There isn’t much I can add here that hasn’t been covered. LeBron, Kyrie, and Kevin are no-brainers. Tristan gets up there if I get a vote. I think the way it works (especially if it’s to get JR retired) would be jointly celebrating them. Would minimize LeBron a bit, but a night where the starting five goes to the rafters would be pretty cool. Once you get past JR, it’s a slippery slope — like they don’t win one of those games if not for the stretch with Dahntay Jones and Mo Williams. I think I’ve talked myself into it. Give me a full-blown ceremony for all five, including Mitchell & Ness versions of the jerseys, bobbles, and some stupid Nike campaign that forces me to get a second mortgage on my home due to all the celebratory merchandise. LFG.
joegilbert – I think LeBron, Love, and Irving are the three for sure guys. Those three should be in the rafters almost immediately after they retire. I think Thompson should also get his number retired. Without him, the championship runs would not have happened. He did so much for the team with much of his impact not coming up in the stat sheet. Beyond that, I don’t think I would retire anyone else’s number. But, I would do something for the entire 2016 team. I know we already have the championship banner, but I would put every players’ name on a banner. Those names should never be forgotten.
frank – Hey if we retired Zs number we can retire TT