The Cleveland Cavaliers are about to learn how merciless NBA fans can be when a team fails to live up to expectations. Whether fair or foul, it's the fate that countless teams before Cleveland have endured—and many have been broken by.
If the Cavaliers hope to silence the critics and prove that they're true contenders, then their greatest hurdle will be tuning out the external noise.
Cleveland finished the 2024-25 regular season at 64-18. They joined the Oklahoma City Thunder as the only teams to win at least 30 games both at home and on the road. They even went 28-11 against teams that finished at or above .500.
Unfortunately, the Cavaliers' dreams of conquering the Eastern Conference were extinguished when they lost in just five games to the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Injuries were a factor, as All-Star point guard Darius Garland missed four postseason games and Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley was absent from a one-point Game 2 loss to Indiana. The result remains the same, however, in the eyes of those who insist the Cavaliers are pretenders.
Great teams know how to tune out the noise, and if Cleveland hopes to emerge as a true contender, that's exactly what it'll need to do.
Cavaliers must tune out incessant claims of pretender status
The Cavaliers will enter the 2025-26 season with a golden opportunity to complete their ascension of the Eastern Conference hierarchy. The Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers lost their franchise players to Achilles injuries that could keep them out for the entirety of the 2025-26 season.
The New York Knicks will be heavy favorites to win the East after competing in the 2025 Conference Finals, but the Cavaliers have every reason to believe they can reach the 2026 NBA Finals.
Garland and Mitchell silenced the critics during the 2024-25 season, guiding Cleveland to a dominant campaign. Mitchell earned All-NBA First Team honors, Garland was named an All-Star, and they ranked among the most clutch duos in the NBA.
Alongside the star-studded backcourt is Mobley, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and Jarrett Allen, who continues to be one of the best centers in the NBA.
The question facing Cleveland is whether or not the current core has reached its peak after back-to-back exits in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. It lost 4-1 in both series, albeit to the very teams that will be without their superstars in Boston and Indiana.
Several Eastern Conference teams have improved their respective rosters, however, while the Cavaliers are banking on injury-plagued guard Lonzo Ball adequately replacing Ty Jerome.
Perhaps health will be on Cleveland's side and they'll finally get over the hump, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2018. Kenny Atkinson is entering his second season with the team, after all, and De'Andre Hunter will play his first full year with the Cavaliers in 2025-26.
As the Cavaliers dream of truly contending, however, they must be prepared for endless backlash for every misstep they experience along the way. Fair or foul, it's an inevitable outcome.