As a small market team, the Cleveland Cavaliers have needed to battle and fight to define their destiny as a franchise.
Free agents are not yearning for the snowfall of Cleveland winters over the perfect weather of Los Angeles or the bustling streets of New York City. Still, the Cavs have rarely been a bottom-feeding team. The Cavaliers always have eyes on the ultimate goal, constructing contending squads through the draft and opportunistic trades. Rather than waiting more than a decade for every rebuild to materialize with a chance to win the playoffs, the Cavs continuously improve and challenge the league's best.
Fans have enjoyed multiple eras of great Cavaliers basketball, being justified in their loyalty and endurance during the rebuilding years. In modern history, Clevelanders have witnessed LeBron James' second Cavaliers run, a promising rebuild and the fulfillment of the rebuild with the current core.
While the Cavs are still defining themselves for this era, five unforgettable moments of the past decade have vindicated Cleveland fans more than any other.
No. 4 - Grant Williams' free throw meltdown
Cleveland fans will never hesitate to express a bitter resentment for rivalries, especially the long-standing battle with the Boston Celtics. As one of the most historied franchises in the NBA, the Celtics are often viewed as the team to take down to rule the Eastern Conference.
While it was nothing more than an inconsequential regular-season matchup, Cleveland's overtime win on March 6, 2023, became an instant favorite of Donovan Mitchell's first Cavs season. With 0.8 seconds left in regulation, Boston forward Grant Williams approached the free throw line and confidently told Mitchell, "Imma make both of 'em".
In what may be the most infamous embarrassment of Williams' career, each free throw rolled out of the rim, and overtime began. Cleveland pulled out the 118-114 victory against the reigning conference champions. As the Cavaliers just began a new era, battling so closely and stealing a win against the best team in the conference was definitive proof that the Cavaliers were making a return to contending basketball.
Lamar Stevens had a career night in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points and grabbing six offensive rebounds to fuel the Cavaliers comeback. Evan Mobley ignited for 25 points and 17 rebounds, giving Cleveland fans excitement for his future.
No. 3 - Spoiling the night for Brooklyn's big three
Before the Cavaliers returned to playoff contention, the rebuilding years were headlined by a tenacious young guard named Collin Sexton. Nicknamed "Young Bull", his relentless scoring and mental toughness was perfect for the Cavs at the time.
In 2021, Sexton set a career-high 42 points in one of the most satisfying games of recent Cavaliers memory. Not only did Sexton set the arena on fire from deep, he did it against Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, two players who were notorious in Cleveland at that time. The newly formed Brooklyn Nets big three visited the Cavaliers for a January meeting and were heavy favorites to bully the lottery-bound Cavs.
Instead, Sexton embarrassed the former owner of number two in wine and gold, slipping past Irving with elite speed and crafty ball handling. Defensively, Sexton put on one of his best performances, showing a level of physicality rare for a guard his size or age.
Though Sexton would ultimately depart from the Cavaliers as part of the blockbuster deal to land Mitchell, his 42-point showdown with the Nets was an electric moment felt all across northeast Ohio.
No. 2 - Cavaliers Christmas beatdown
Following the Cavaliers' 2016 Finals win over the Golden State Warriors, the arrival of Kevin Durant put Cleveland's repeat hopes in serious jeopardy. For the last two years, the Cavs and Warriors duked it out on the biggest stage, reshaping the 2010's era. The first meeting between the two teams after Durant's entrance was highly anticipated, and in a genius move, the league pitted them against each other in the prime time Christmas day slot in 2016.
There has likely never been a more tense, playoff-like environment in Cleveland during December than this game. As everybody would have wanted, the match was an instant classic with LeBron and Durant going back and forth. Durant led the night with 36 points, but James was not far behind with 31 points, six rebounds and three assists to fill the stat sheet. Irving gave the Cavs a double-double, dropping 25 points and dishing out 10 assists alongside seven steals.
The last time these teams faced one another was game seven of the league's greatest Finals comeback of all time. Undoubtedly, tensions were sky high and neither squad was willing to quit. On Golden State's final possession with a one-point lead, a falling Andre Iguodala tossed the ball to Klay Thompson, but the shot clock buzzed and gave the Cavs possession with 11.1 seconds remaining.
With the game clock nearing zero, Kyrie wasted no time driving to the paint. Thompson stayed glued to his hip, not allowing the easy layup. In response, the All-Star guard and reigning champion pivoted off his left foot and leapt into the air for a fadeaway jumper. His momentum slid him from the post to outside of the arc as he landed, and both Irving and Thompson watched with weighted bated breath as it swiftly found the bottom of the net.
The Warriors found no response in the final 3.4 seconds, gifting Cleveland a Christmas classic fit for the ages. It immediately became the most memorable Christmas story in town, beating out the literal Christmas Story house in downtown.
No. 1 - A championship like no other
The game that gave the 2016 Christmas match such energy was none other than the Cavaliers' game seven completion of the impossible 3-1 comeback. Cleveland was seeking revenge after losing in six games to the Warriors in 2015 after Irving and Kevin Love were sidelined.
Whether fans remember James' block with 1:51 left in the fourth quarter, Irving's dagger three over Stephen Curry, Love's perimeter lockdown of Curry's game-winner or the forgotten moments of role players like Richard Jefferson giving it their all, that game seven is forever cemented in the hearts and minds of every Cavaliers fan. It was the fulfillment of James' original promise to bring a championship to his hometown team, and it broke a 52-year drought in Cleveland professional sports.
Since that comeback, the solid black jerseys with an oversized "C" logo have become a staple in Cavaliers imagery. There may never be a greater Finals series, as blowout after blowout led to a win that nobody ever expected could be done. The Warriors were coming off a historic 73-9 season and had the MVP in Curry. Golden State seemed like the first team capable of securing the first three-peat since the Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls.
The Cleveland Cavaliers made history on June 19, 2016. It vindicated every failing season and every anxious night watching as the Cavs tried to reclaim the former glory that had disappeared when James departed for the Miami Heat just six years earlier. All four of these moments encapsulate not just a great moment but a shared feeling and experience across the global fanbase. The rivalries, beloved players and monumental victories of the Cavaliers are what make this team great in any era.