Our series on the four jerseys fans of every NBA team continues today. It’s Central Division week, and today we’re focusing on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Remember, we’re not just going to list off four popular players in team history. We know that when you’re wearing a jersey, you’re going for a “look.” So every day we’re going to tell you the jersey you’ve got to have, the jersey you can’t go wrong with (in case you can’t find the first one), the jersey that will make people say “Oh, that’s awesome,” and the joke jersey that will have everyone laughing.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a history that can be described as “tortured.” They’ve been close, but not close enough. The’ve seen other players’ signature moments come against them. And they’ve seen perhaps their best chance at winning (finally) walk away in a very embarrassing manner. Yet Cavs fans remain loyal to their team. It’s a testament to their fanhood, which some other NBA cities would do well to emulate. And despite the failures that checker its past, the Cavs have produced some pretty sweet jerseys that will fill wardrobes quite nicely. Just don’t, whatever you do, wear a #23 around town. Even if you have one and you’re not pissed off about how it all went down, do yourself a favor and leave it at home.
For insight on our Cavs gear, we turned to resident Cavs expert Brendan Bowers (of the fabulous Stepien Rules. None of which is written in Comic Sans, by the way) to run down why these four jerseys should be in your closet.
Gotta Have:
Mark Price — The most underrated PG of his generation, a fringe Hall of Famer, poor color commentator, quality gospel singer, and all around tremendous NBA basketball player. Mark Price was a score first PG before guys like Allen Iverson, Chris Paul, and Derrick Rose made playing that way normal. He never missed a free throw since the age of 4 when he missed one once because someone probably moved the Nerf hoop he was shooting on, and he could step out and shoot the three with anybody in the League in his prime. Lenny Wilkens’ Cavaliers teams won because Mark Price was the PG. #25 is a legend.
Can’t go wrong with:
Craig Ehlo — So let me get this right: Craig Ehlo is a “goat” who “choked” because the greatest player in NBA History hit a jumper over him at the buzzer to win a playoff game? Same game where Ehlo pushed MJ on both ends of the court for three quarters, only to get beat in the end by the same guy who beat everybody to the tune of 7 NBA championships? Whatever. Ehlo could ball people; you rock that #3 jersey with pride.
Oh, that’s cool:
Larry Nance — Why would you not want to wear the jersey of the only guy to ever dunk two basketballs at the same time in the NBA dunk contest? Sure he was a Phoenix Sun when he accomplished that feat, but Nance accomplished plenty more than that once he became a Cleveland Cavalier and put on that #22. Maybe the most overlooked guy in the era of Price, Daugherty, Harper, Hot Rod and the rest of those Cavs was Larry Nance, but he was as good as any of them and a pivotal reason why those Cavs teams won at the clip that they did.
Oh, that’s funny:
Ricky Davis — At least Ricky Davis could score. If he had a better rep, maybe that whole missing a shot off his own basket in order to tally his 10th rebound would’ve been viewed as creative and forward thinking back when he did it. However, most people didn’t like Ricky D, and a lot more were turned off by that stunt that’s come to essentially define his time in Cleveland. I always liked the guy though, and you’ll get nothing but compliments from me if I see you rocking that
#31 with D-A-V-I-S on the back.
There you have it. The four jerseys Cavs fans have got to have. Disagree with us? Let us know who we missed in the comments.
Previous jerseys:
Atlantic Division: Boston, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto
Central Division: Chicago
Tomorrow: The Detroit Pistons
Jeff Garcia collaborated on this post
