To celebrate the recent 15th birthday of FanSided I have decided to compile a list of the top moments from the past 15 years for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavs have had plenty of ups and downs regarding their success on and off the court, ranging from 50+ win seasons to other years when gathering 20 wins seems like an impossible feat.
To say that creating this list in an order that everyone would agree with is nearly impossible due to the sheer number of memorable moments that the Cavaliers have had.
With that said, let’s get to the honorable mentions.
The shot.
No explanation is needed. Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, tied game, Kyrie Irving is given the ball and gives Stephen Curry the works as he takes a step back shot to give the Cavaliers a three-point lead with little time remaining in the game.
This shot happened almost immediately after the following entry on this list to give the Cavs all the momentum needed to make history.
The Block.
“Blocked by James!” Mike Breen screams in disbelief. Possibly the greatest play in the history of the NBA. Definitely the most iconic call the NBA has ever seen.
LeBron James was a blur running bucket-to-bucket as he was able to catch up to Andre Iguodala and rise up to send his shot right back with the nastiest rejection you will ever see.
This led inevitably to the shot by Irving which gave the Cavaliers a small lead with little time remaining on the clock.
Finally overcoming the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Cavaliers struggled to get past the Pistons throughout James’ early career, losing to them numerous times.
This year, however, was different. This Detroit team had lost Ben Wallace, the anchor of their defense and the heart of that team.
While they were still good enough to make the Conference Finals in 2007, they were no match for the LeBron-led Cavaliers team.
In a combination of LeBron James being the greatest player of all-time, Daniel “Boobie” Gibson having the best game of his career, and a near-nightly double-double from Zydrunas Ilgauskas the Cavaliers were able to sneak into their first ever NBA Finals appearance
“Boobie” Gibson would become one of the unsung heroes of this Cavs team as he would drop 31 points, six rebounds, and two assists off the bench in to close out the Pistons in Game 6. He led the team in scoring as he allowed LeBron to focus on other parts of his extremely versatile game.