LeBron James has an immaculate history with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The King started his NBA career with the Vacs in 2003 and stayed there until 2010 before moving to Miami Heat. However, the Lakers legend went back to his home franchise in 2014 and led Cleveland to their first NBA title in 2016. Undoubtedly, he has been one of the most successful players for the franchise, with over 20,000 points for the Cavs.
While the franchise has seen players like Mark Price, Zydranus Ilgauskas, Brad Daughtery, and Austin Carr, no one has come as far as James has. LeBron carried the franchise on his shoulder and led them to five NBA finals. Thus, he truely deserves all the praise for turning things around in Cleveland and has ruled in the recent franchise awards.
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GOAT Of The Franchise: LeBron James
James has 33 all-time records for the Cavaliers. He has 28 records from points, rebounds, assists, steals, and field goals to advanced stats like offensive, defensive, and overall win shares. The four-time NBA champ won the franchise\’s only final MVP Award while leading the Cavaliers to their first-ever championship in 2016. James also pushed Cleveland to five NBA finals appearances. Sadly, the franchise has a disappointing record of 1-4 in the finals. But, Cleveland Cavaliers would not have been in this position without LeBron James\’ presence on the team.
Rookie Of The Franchise: LeBron James
James debuted for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2003-04 season. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2004 after being drafted as the No. 1 pick in 2003. James impressed everyone with an average of 20.9 points with 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. LeBron shot 41.7% from the field. In his presence, Cleveland went from winning 17 games in a season to 35 wins the following year and missed the playoffs by a small margin. James has proved that he has been the best Rookie that the Cavs have ever come across. The fact that James managed to keep his performance consistent for 19 seasons is an amazing feat.
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Offensive Player Of The Franchise: LeBron James
James has proved to be the most offensive player for Cleveland. And he has the points to show for it. In contrast, fans would argue about Mark Price and Brad Daughtery\’s sharpshooting. However, the former does not have the scoring while the latter lacks an all-around game. Zydrunas Ilgauskas would have been the Cavs\’ highest scorer if LeBron did not play for the franchise. However, LeBron did, and he managed to score more than double the number of points as Zydrunas.
Moreover, James has 107 win shares with the Cavaliers, which is about 60 more than Mark Price. The four-time NBA MVP was used 31% overall on offensive possession and still managed to attain the highest player efficiency ranking. While James leads almost all records for the franchise, his capability of playing in all five positions is something that makes him so impactful.
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Defensive Player Of The Franchise: LeBron James
The only record that James missed out on was blocks total. Ilgauskas has double the number of blocks as LeBron. However, 18-time All-Star finished with the most steals(1376) in the history of the Cavs. One of the most prolific defensive moments for the franchise was when LeBron James blocked Andre Iguodala in the seventh game of the 2016 NBA Finals.
The four-time NBA Finals MVP finished with 200 more rebounds than Ilgauskas. But the latter has the upper hand on the offensive rebounding side by over 1000. Moreover, LeBron finished with 16 more defensive win shares of all time. James is known for his versatility, and he has shown it during his time with the Cavs.
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Fan Favorite: LeBron James
James was the most-loved player in Cleveland from 2003 to 2010. He was considered the savior of the Cavs when the franchise first drafted him. And the 18-year-old LeBron lived up to the fans\’ expectations and delivered when Cleveland needed it the most.
Fans in Cleveland still admire him and want The King to return to his home franchise one final time. James got frustrated with coming up short and decided to leave the franchise in 2010. He won a couple of titles with the Miami Heat before returning to the Cavs in 2014, choosing his previous franchise over the Los Angeles Lakers. He was determined to win a championship with Cleveland and managed to achieve the feat, for which the fans admire him the most.
