The 10 greatest big men in Cleveland Cavaliers history
By John Suchan
No. 3 Cleveland Cavaliers big man: Zydrunas IIgauskas “Big Z”
Another fixture in Cavs history was one giant 7-foot-3 player from Lithuania named Zydrunas IIgauskas, or more popularly known as “Big Z.”
He played for Cleveland from 1997 through the 2009-10 season. That adds up to 12 seasons with one team and that’s not very common place in this day and age of the NBA. He finished his career with the Wine and Gold by averaging 14 points and almost eight rebounds per game plus added two blocks a game.
His teammate LeBron James was drafted by the Cavs in 2003 and “Big Z” flourished with him in the lineup. His 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons were some of his best. During the 2004 season he collected 67 games of double-digit scoring and had 25 games where he grabbed more than 10 rebounds. What’s even more impressive about his career was that he always played and never missed games, aside from very early on. That consistency to play so often really helped those early Cavs teams when LeBron James was part of them, too.
He finished his career in Cleveland by collecting 5,904 rebounds, blocking 1,269 shots and scoring 10,616 points. Ilgauskas made two NBA All-Star Games and was voted to the 1997 All-Rookie Team.