Are the Cavs better than LeBron for the first time ever?

LeBron James is the best player in Cleveland Cavaliers franchise history, full stop. There is no one else who even comes close. He leads the Cavs in just about every all-time statistic there is; only Big Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) is ahead of him in a few, namely blocks and fouls. James made All-NBA first or second team with the Cavs 10 times; all other Cavs players in franchise history have done that just once (Mark Price in 1992-93).

Every MVP award given to a member of the Cavaliers was won by James, as were 21 of the franchise’s 25 playoff series wins. Perhaps most importantly, James brought home the franchise’s only championship in 2016. No one would argue: James is one of the greatest players of all time, and he is unequivocally the best in Cavaliers franchise history.

LeBron James is a franchise icon, and the Cavs have understandably struggled without him. Are this year’s Cavs better than LeBron for the first time ever?

Without LeBron suiting up for the Wine and Gold, the Cavs have floundered. They haven’t been to the playoffs without him since 1998, and they haven’t won a series without him since 1993. They have averaged 22 wins per season in the seven complete years without him, the first four when he was in Miami and then the last three while he was in Los Angeles.

LeBron won three titles in those seven seasons, making the NBA Finals in five of them. The only year he didn’t make the playoffs at all was in 2018-19, and even then his Lakers team (playing much of the season with an injured James) doubled up the Cavs’ win total.

Now the tables have turned. The Cavs are off to their best non-LeBron start in a long time, 25-18 with the best net rating in the Eastern Conference. The Lakers, on the other hand, are mired in the morass of .500 basketball, looking up at the rest of the Western Conference contenders.

For the first time ever, we can now ask the question: are the Cavs better than LeBron’s team? Let’s see if we can find out the answer.