The 10 greatest big men in Cleveland Cavaliers history

No. 9 Cleveland Cavaliers big man: Phil Hubbard

Hubbard played for the Cavs between 1981-89. He was in Cleveland prior to the team’s big run in the playoffs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was there when other big men like Brad Daugherty and John “Hot Rod” Williams were just getting started.

In his eight seasons as a Cavalier, he averaged almost 11 points and five rebounds. His best statistical season was the 1984-85 season where he averaged 16 points and over six rebounds a game. He had 65 games that season where he scored in double figures, including 18 games of scoring more than 20 points. He also had 10 games of having double-digit rebounds.

His big 1985 season helped get the Cavs to the playoffs where they lost to the Boston Celtics in four games. He did what he could by averaging almost 16 points and five boards in the series. The Cavs were trending up after that season and Hubbard, who had seen a lot of seasons of bad basketball in Cleveland, was around when the Cavs made it a regular thing in going to the playoffs.

He struggled in his career because of injuries, especially to his knee which he had injured badly in college. Hubbard grew up in Canton, Ohio and played at McKinley High School, and was a local hero. He isn’t talked about on many top 10 lists in Cavaliers history, but he was a big part of those early 1980’s teams and should be recognized for his dedication and hard work.

No. 8 Cleveland Cavaliers big man: Jim Chones

If you listen to Cavaliers radio broadcasts these days, you might hear a familiar voice in Jim Chones. He played for Cleveland between 1974-1979 and was simply a big man who did a bit of everything for a team that was just getting started in the early days back in the 1970s.

He moved on to play for the dazzling Los Angeles Lakers and won an NBA Championship with greats like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabar back in 1980. He scored 7,664 points and had 5,196 rebounds over his great career. That averages out to 12 points a game with eight rebounds. He was a steady presence for the Cavs and helped them get to the playoffs in 1976, 1977, and 1978.

The Cavs made it through to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1976 after they beat the Washington Bullets 4-3 in the seven-game Eastern Conference Semifinal series and Chones played an important role in that upset series win. He also broke his foot and wasn’t able to play in the Eastern Conference Finals, unfortunately. But during that season of 1976, Chones had 73 games of scoring in double figures and had 35 games of registering more than 10 rebounds in a game.