Restoring rivalries – a possibility for this ascending Cavs team

In the not-so-distant past, boos rained down from Cleveland Cavaliers fans upon the likes of Richard Hamilton, DeShawn Stevenson and Kevin Garnett seemingly from the time their team charters touched down at Hopkins International…More recently, when Stephen Curry would step foot in the Buckeye state he’d be greeted with the same pleasantries as a New Year’s Day hangover.

Those players, their teammates and a host of others were treated with such angst because of the rivalries their teams forged on the court against the Cavaliers.

Who could forget the mid-2000’s Cavs teams that regularly battled the likes of the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards in the postseason? Or the constant playoff hurdles presented by the Big Three era Boston Celtics teams and the Derrick Rose-led Chicago Bulls.

These were rivalries in their truest form. They didn’t like the Cavs, or Cleveland (a quick Joakim Noah Google search agrees) and the players for the Wine and Gold didn’t like them either.

Rarely do NBA rivalries exist or sustain without a real possibility of a title awaiting the winner. The Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Celtics was important because titles were often on the line. Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and the “Bad Boys” Pistons battled for the opportunity to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. The same could be said for the New York Knicks–Miami Heat rivalries of the 1990’s.

When superstars like LeBron James and Kyrie Irving departed the Cavs (the latter via trade), they didn’t just take the possibility of another championship parade in Cleveland with them. They took rivalries as well. When the Golden State Warriors enter The Land, there’s no buzz.

The once hated Celtics are just another Tuesday game in February. Detroit coming to town has all the excitement of a visit from the proctologist. Painful as it is to accept, there are no rivalries with these Cavs.

That’s an opportunity for these ascending Cavs, though.

Without championship aspirations or recent success (back-to-back 19-win seasons after LeBron waived goodbye a second time), opposing teams aren’t circling their date with the Cleveland Cavaliers in advance. The lack of balance-of-power shifting games and zero – yes, zero nationally televised games, to this point, certainly doesn’t help.

Despite a surprising start and a roster full of talented, entertaining, hard-working players, such as Collin Sexton, the team’s leading scorer with 24.6 points per game, and Larry Nance Jr., the league’s steals and deflections leader, and others – this Cleveland team has no current rival.

For the time being, any dislike that Cleveland fans (or even front office members) have towards the Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks or any other team is one-sided.

Fortunately, Sexton, who has been among the Cavs standouts thus far, as KJG’s Elijah Hamilton highlighted, and this Cleveland team are exceeding expectations and stacking up wins, and are currently a fairly surprising 9-10. A return to playoff basketball is a realistic possibility (the Cavs are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference).

If this continues, Cleveland rivalries will be reborn, and the opposition will once again be greeted by boo birds perched inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.