Not every Hall of Fame NBA talent stays in one jersey their entire career. In fact, few do. The Cleveland Cavaliers have been home to numerous great All-Star talents in their primes, but they have had their equal share of players who are beyond their glory days but not ready to call it quits.
Every so often, groups of Cavs fans look back at forgotten players, people who never seem to look right wearing the wine and gold. When discussing these greats, it is seldom that their time in Cleveland is brought up by anybody outside of Northeast Ohio. For some, that one season seeing their favorite player in their favorite city is enough to buy the jersey, even if it's well past their prime.
Other times, All-Stars joined the Cavaliers with the expectations they would raise the ceiling of success in Cleveland, only to flutter out of relevancy and become a forgotten name. In past eras, plenty of names have spent time with the Cavs.
Beyond players like Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade or Derrick Rose, other players have joined the Cavs only to seem like a lucid dream when they leave.
The Matrix - a Cavalier?
Remembering Shawn Marion brings memories of his electric years with the Phoenix Suns, his 2011 Finals run with the Dallas Mavericks and his incredibly unorthodox shot form.
Marion, also known as "The Matrix", had as much athleticism and hustle as any star in the NBA. Marion cemented his place in Suns' history, helping set the standard for a golden era of Phoenix basketball. He often was overlooked with Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire in the spotlight with Phoenix, but the seven-seconds-or-less Suns were as dependent on Marion as the other two thirds of the trio.
A few years after Marion won with the Mavs, he exited the franchise for one final season on the Cleveland Cavaliers. The four-time All-Star joined Cleveland as a 36-year-old veteran leader. The Cavaliers had just reunited with James and were looking for complementary players to fill the rotation. Marion had filled this role in Dallas, and he had one more chance to be a solid role player on a Championship team.
In 19.3 minutes per game, Marion averaged 4.8 points and shot 44.6 percent from the field. He looked entirely unnoticeable from the former All-Star the NBA had grown accustomed to cheering for. It did not take long to realize that Marion's best days were behind him, and he officially retired from the league the following offseason.
Marion has been nominated for the Hall of Fame and may be inducted in the near future. While his time in Cleveland was less than stellar, the Cavaliers can still be considered the short-term home of a uniquely great talent.
The face of New York in Cleveland
Nobody would ever think of Walt Frazier in any color scheme other than the New York Knicks blue and orange. The Hall of Famer point guard was the face of the Knicks throughout the 1970s, earning seven All-Star nods, six All-NBA nominations and two NBA championships.
The Georgia native helped establish the Knicks as one of the most iconic sports franchises of all time. He ushered in an unforgettable era of NBA basketball that many fans (including myself) will never experience. This legend of a bygone era did not get the fairy tale retirement other all-time greats enjoyed, though. Frazier's final three seasons were not in the Big Apple, but Cleveland instead.
If Frazier had his druthers, he would have never left New York. But, in a trade that might have foreshadowed the disloyalty that now plagues the Dallas Mavericks' fanbase, the Knicks traded Frazier for Jim Cleamons after the 1976-77 season.
Frazier only played 63 games in those three years, averaging 15.1 points and 3.8 assists in that time. He was clearly on the decline and likely was not enthused to be with Cleveland. He retired at 34 years old, ending a historic career on the wrong team.