Cavs: Recent interview emphasizes how Mark Price is ever grateful for bobblehead

Mark Price was a stellar point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, warranting him winning the fan voting for the “Coliseum Era” bobblehead, and in a recent conversation, he touched on how that meant a lot to him, and he seemed so appreciative of his time playing for Cleveland.

Mark Price is undoubtedly one of the best players in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and that’s no debate.

He is one of the team’s best point guards ever, with Terrell Brandon and Kyrie Irving coming to mind to me as others right off the bat in that conversation.

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With Price being one of the key players on the Cavs in the 1980’s and 90’s, and arguably the best player on those squads, it was warranted for him to be the player featured as Cleveland’s “Richfield Coliseum Era” bobblehead in the team’s 50th season in 2019-20, which came from him receiving the most fan votes (per the team) for the bobblehead from teams in the 1980’s and the earlier portion of the 90’s.

In a recent conversation with the Plain Dealer‘s Terry Pluto, Price seemed ever grateful for him being the Coliseum Era bobblehead, based on that showing fans really appreciated what he did for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pluto noted that when he called Price recently, Price said “I love it,” in reference to being named that era’s bobblehead representative.

Price would also touch on how because of him and other Cavs having an everyday person feel to them for fans, that he and the other Cavs of his era connected with fans so well, and Pluto would even hit on how Price said he, Ehlo and John Bagley would routinely play in pick-up games at “Valley Vista playground in Cuyahoga Falls,” which to me, was really cool.

Here’s a bit more on that, again, courtesy of Pluto.

"“We were just regular guys,” said Price. “We didn’t think of ourselves as something special. I think that’s why the fans connected with us, and why we felt close to them.”"

Price, who was often motoring down the floor with the ball in his hands, was a tremendous shooter, both off-the-bounce and off-the-catch, and had outstanding court vision, too, which allowed him to often find players such as Brad Daugherty, Craig Ehlo, Larry Nance, and John Williams (among others) with feeds right on the money.

In nine seasons (out of a 12-year NBA career) with the Cleveland Cavaliers (spanning 1986-87 through the 1994-95 season), Price averaged 16.4 points on 59.1% true shooting (including 40.9% from three-point range), to go with 7.2 assists per game, per Basketball Reference.

He was a big reason the Cavaliers made the postseason seven times in his time with them, and averaged 17.4 points on 58.7% true shooting and 7.0 assists per game in that span (per Basketball Reference) and again, it’s cool to hear that he was more than appreciative of the loyal Cleveland fan base voting for him to the bobblehead representative in what was a very successful time in Cavs’ history.

Maybe in coming years Price, who was an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets in 2018-19 (and is not currently set to be coaching in the next NBA season as of now) and was previously UNC-Charlotte’s head coach, along with an assistant coach on the then-Charlotte Bobcats and again Hornets, as Pluto referenced, can fill an assistant coaching role for Cleveland head coach John Beilein in coming years.

Who better for young lead guards Darius Garland and Collin Sexton to learn from than Price?

Granted it’s wishful thinking, but I’m sure all fans of the Wine and Gold would love it if Price came back in some capacity with the Cleveland organization.