King James Gospel
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Cleveland Cavaliers: Five best starters of the 2010s

By Tyler Marling

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James looks on. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James looks on. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Cleveland Cavaliers big Kevin Love (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

With another decade nearly in the books, it’s time to take a look at the Cleveland Cavaliers five best starters of the 2010s.

What a roller coaster of emotions for Cleveland Cavalier fans the 2010s were. It started off with a Millennium Force like plunge after LeBron James bolted for the Miami Heat following the 2009-10 NBA season.

The Cavaliers were far and away the worst team in the NBA that following season and even lost a then record-tying 26 straight games.

The roller eventually leveled out and started climbing again when the Cavaliers nabbed Kyrie Irving with the number one pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and Tristan Thompson with the fourth pick in that same draft.

The 2011-12 season was another poor season for Cleveland but there were glimmers of hope with Irving and Thompson looking to be solid foundational pieces for the Cavaliers’ future. The Cavaliers even won two more games in a strike-shortened season than they did in the 2010-11 season.

The next two seasons saw the Cavaliers improve steadily and even win 33 games in the 2013-14 season before the roller coaster reached its apex. In the summer of 2014, James penned a letter announcing his return “home.”

Cleveland had also recently selected Andrew Wiggins with the number one pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and proceeded to trade him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love.

The Cavalier train was now full-steam ahead and would see the most successful run in franchise history that included four consecutive NBA Finals appearances, including their only NBA championship in 2016 that saw the Cavaliers become the first and only team to ever come back from a three games to one deficit in the NBA Finals.

Following the 2017-18 season, James again left Cleveland, this time, however, it was different. He fulfilled his promise and brought a title to “The Land.” Cleveland’s 2010s are sputtering as they are in the midst of a rebuild but five starters stand out from what was the greatest decade in franchise history.