As the 2016-2017 Cleveland Cavaliers come down the stretch with one of the deepest teams in NBA history (RIP Andrew Bogut), it's fun to look back at how things used to be.
We all know that LeBron James is one of the best players the league has ever seen. We also know that he couldn't get over the hump in Cleveland without any stud teammates. He won titles in Miami with a couple of monsters, dragged the Cavs to back-to-back Finals appearances, and won one for his hometown against the best team to ever play (regular season) basketball.
So what wins here? Was it the other-worldly shooting in his second title season in Miami? Was it the Herculean effort in the Eastern Conference Finals to beat the Pistons? Was it playing without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love and damn near taking the 2015 Finals to 7 games? Or was it winning three straight (2 on the road) against the best team to ever play (regular season) basketball?
There are lots of options here. So I'm going with the dark-horse: The 2008-2009 playoff team.
Let's dig in.
First, the elephant in the room: This team didn't make it to the Finals. They were 66-16 in the regular season and got shot out of the gym by Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, and Mickael Pietrus. Dwight Howard was peak Dwight Howard instead of "remember how great Dwight Howard was?" Dwight Howard.
That Magic team - wow. They shot 41% on threes as a team in the series. Career 38% shooter Rashard Lewis hit 48% (15-31). Career 35% shooter Mickael Pietrus shot 47% (17-36). Career 35% shooter Rafer Alston shot 38% (14-37). And Hedo Turkoglu improved from 38% career to 39% on the series (9-23). In the middle of all that was Dwight Howard making 65% of his shots, 70% of his free throws, and going for a ho-hum 26 points and 13 rebounds per night.
Remember how great Dwight Howard was?
So back to the Cavs.
They went 66-16 in the regular season. They were studs. They had winning streaks of six, eight, eleven, and thirteen games. They were obviously LeBron's team but the 2008-2009 season also saw point guard Mo Williams earn a bid to the All-Star game.
Mo had a very good season. He shot almost 44% on threes and over 90% on free throws. He scored 40+ twice in the three weeks before the All-Star break, including a ridiculous 43 point, 11 assist, 8 rebound line in a win vs. the Kings (not to be outdone, LeBron put up a 23 point, 11 assists, 15 rebound line - so selfish). Mo bounced around the league after leaving Cleveland, spending time with seven teams between 2011 and 2016. He never reached another All-Star game, although he did score 52 that one time in Charlotte in 2013.
(Important note: Basketball Reference lists Mo's nickname as "The Hitman." Has anyone ever called him that? I watched about 3.5 seasons of his career and never once heard him referred to as "The Hitman." They called him "Mo Gotti" and I suppose the Godfather music they played for him was in that theme, but The Hitman? I mean...he shot 42 and 43% from deep in Cleveland but the other 10 seasons never saw him top 39% - he wasn't even someone I'd describe as "the hitman" when LeBron wasn't there to get him open shots. Bret Hart doesn't deserve this)
Anderson Varejao was coming into his own as a bizarre pick-and-roll force for the Cavs. He snagged offensive rebounds, drew charges, and annoyed the hell out of everyone who wasn't a Cavalier fan on a nightly basis. He averaged about 7 points and 7 rebounds for the year and would go on to have an injury-riddled (although still productive) handful of years in Cleveland before being traded in early 2016. He also never reached another All-Star game.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas was a fan favorite and the truest definition of a lumbering giant, but was well past his prime. Same goes for Ben Wallace, who was in consecutive All-Star games from 2003-2006, but never reached one again (Z's lone All-Star appearances was in 2005). Delonte West had psychological issues which came to light within a few years of this run with Cleveland and are definitely not something to joke about.
Here's the point. The below is a rundown of what the Cavaliers players (besides LeBron, Mo Williams, and Andy Varejao, since those three are covered above) did after this 2008-2009 season. It is presented here as evidence of this being LeBron's most incredible achievement.
We all know that LeBron James is one of the best players the league has ever seen. We also know that he couldn't get over the hump in Cleveland without any stud teammates. He won titles in Miami with a couple of monsters, dragged the Cavs to back-to-back Finals appearances, and won one for his hometown against the best team to ever play (regular season) basketball.
So what wins here? Was it the other-worldly shooting in his second title season in Miami? Was it the Herculean effort in the Eastern Conference Finals to beat the Pistons? Was it playing without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love and damn near taking the 2015 Finals to 7 games? Or was it winning three straight (2 on the road) against the best team to ever play (regular season) basketball?
There are lots of options here. So I'm going with the dark-horse: The 2008-2009 playoff team.
Let's dig in.
First, the elephant in the room: This team didn't make it to the Finals. They were 66-16 in the regular season and got shot out of the gym by Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, and Mickael Pietrus. Dwight Howard was peak Dwight Howard instead of "remember how great Dwight Howard was?" Dwight Howard.
That Magic team - wow. They shot 41% on threes as a team in the series. Career 38% shooter Rashard Lewis hit 48% (15-31). Career 35% shooter Mickael Pietrus shot 47% (17-36). Career 35% shooter Rafer Alston shot 38% (14-37). And Hedo Turkoglu improved from 38% career to 39% on the series (9-23). In the middle of all that was Dwight Howard making 65% of his shots, 70% of his free throws, and going for a ho-hum 26 points and 13 rebounds per night.
Remember how great Dwight Howard was?
So back to the Cavs.
They went 66-16 in the regular season. They were studs. They had winning streaks of six, eight, eleven, and thirteen games. They were obviously LeBron's team but the 2008-2009 season also saw point guard Mo Williams earn a bid to the All-Star game.
Mo had a very good season. He shot almost 44% on threes and over 90% on free throws. He scored 40+ twice in the three weeks before the All-Star break, including a ridiculous 43 point, 11 assist, 8 rebound line in a win vs. the Kings (not to be outdone, LeBron put up a 23 point, 11 assists, 15 rebound line - so selfish). Mo bounced around the league after leaving Cleveland, spending time with seven teams between 2011 and 2016. He never reached another All-Star game, although he did score 52 that one time in Charlotte in 2013.
(Important note: Basketball Reference lists Mo's nickname as "The Hitman." Has anyone ever called him that? I watched about 3.5 seasons of his career and never once heard him referred to as "The Hitman." They called him "Mo Gotti" and I suppose the Godfather music they played for him was in that theme, but The Hitman? I mean...he shot 42 and 43% from deep in Cleveland but the other 10 seasons never saw him top 39% - he wasn't even someone I'd describe as "the hitman" when LeBron wasn't there to get him open shots. Bret Hart doesn't deserve this)
Anderson Varejao was coming into his own as a bizarre pick-and-roll force for the Cavs. He snagged offensive rebounds, drew charges, and annoyed the hell out of everyone who wasn't a Cavalier fan on a nightly basis. He averaged about 7 points and 7 rebounds for the year and would go on to have an injury-riddled (although still productive) handful of years in Cleveland before being traded in early 2016. He also never reached another All-Star game.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas was a fan favorite and the truest definition of a lumbering giant, but was well past his prime. Same goes for Ben Wallace, who was in consecutive All-Star games from 2003-2006, but never reached one again (Z's lone All-Star appearances was in 2005). Delonte West had psychological issues which came to light within a few years of this run with Cleveland and are definitely not something to joke about.
Here's the point. The below is a rundown of what the Cavaliers players (besides LeBron, Mo Williams, and Andy Varejao, since those three are covered above) did after this 2008-2009 season. It is presented here as evidence of this being LeBron's most incredible achievement.
- As of March 6, 2017, LeBron is the only player who is still active in the NBA out of the 16 players who received minutes for the Cavaliers. Mo Williams announced his retirement and the Cavaliers forgot to say "no takesies backsies" and Mo undid it so he could keep getting paid. Anderson Varejao got cut a month ago and nobody has picked him up. Eight of those guys were 25 or younger (LeBron was 24 - Mo and Andy were actually 26)
- Tarance Kinsey (24 years old), Wally Szczerbiak (31 years old), and Lorenzen Wright (33 years old) never played another minute in the NBA. Kinsey appeared in 50 games, Wally in 74, and Wright in 17
- Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, and Joe Smith all retired due to their age within the next three years (Ilgauskas and Smith two years later, Wallace three). Z and Wallace missed three starts total in the 08-09 season while Smith averaged 19 minutes after signing a free agent deal late in the season
- Boobie Gibson was Cleveland's secret bench weapon and a lights-out three-point shooter. He was very good in 2008-09, outstanding in 2009-10, then his productivity dwindled. He was out of the league in 2013 at age 26
- Darnell Jackson played two more years in the NBA and was cut for good in 2011 at age 25
- Trey Johnson and Jawad Williams played parts of two more seasons in the NBA and were both cut for good at age 27
- Sasha Pavlovic went from being a starter in the 2007 Finals to a solid bench contributor and spot-starter for the 2009 squad to starting in 15 games over the final four seasons of his career. He was out of the league by age 29
- Delonte West was perhaps the best bet to be a contributor long-term but mental health issues seemed to start eating at him during his final year in Cleveland (2009-2010). He effectively walked away from the NBA in 2012 after appearing in about 70 games over the prior two seasons. He last played at age 28
Chew on that for a moment. That team - the team that led the regular season and were heavy favorites to reach the Finals from the east - produced 0 more All-Star appearances, 0 All-NBA appearances, and had 12 players out of the league by 2013. Aside from Mo Williams, only two others ever made an All-Star team and neither had been within three years.
They were the Indians from Major League. Ilgauskas was old-man Jake Taylor, Varejao was obviously the Wild Thing Rick Vaughn, and LeBron was Hayes and Cerrano rolled into one*. Of equal importance, the Indians didn't win the World Series, as proven by Major League II. In fact, Major League II informed us that the Indians lost in...the ALCS - one step before the championship round. It's almost too perfect.
Rachel Phelps did not make an appearance for the 2009 Cavaliers.
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