Cleveland Cavaliers: 10 greatest centers in franchise history
156. . Center. Cleveland Cavaliers. Kevin Love. 3. player
While Kevin Love‘s primary position is unquestionably power forward, he has logged a lot of minutes at center for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Those minutes have also been incredible.
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Love, while loved by Cavalier’s fans, still might be underappreciated by the NBA as a whole.
When the Cavaliers struggled in the playoffs, Love was the target of the blame. Whenever they would play well, and specifically Love, it was because LeBron James and Kyrie Irving made it easy on Love.
Here is a sample of what Love can do, however:
While his numbers took an expected drop in Cleveland, they are still fantastic, and Love was vital in the Cavaliers’ championship. He was another piece teams had to gameplan for.
Over the course of his four years in Cleveland, per Basketball-Reference, Love has per-game averages of 17.1 points and 10 rebounds.
Cleveland Cavaliers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas. 2. player. 156. . Center
Zydrunas Ilgauskas gets the nod over Love at number two strictly because of longevity. Ilgauskas was an all-time great for the Cavs and he did it for 12 seasons and overcame some foot injuries early in his career, which have been a death sentence for a lot of 7-footers.
Ilgauskas had his number 11 jersey retired, and it was very deserving. He retired as the Cavaliers all-time leader in block shots. His career per-game averages, per Basketball-Reference, with the Cavaliers, are 13 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks.
Ilgauskas suffered through a lot of bad seasons in Cleveland before James was drafted, but he was a vital piece in helping James lead the Cavaliers to a lot of success during their run before James departed for the Miami Heat.
As an all-time fan favorite, Ilgauskas will be remembered fondly for his days in Cleveland by the ownership group and the fans.