Global InformationCleveland Cavaliers information
| Cleveland Cavaliers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 2023–24 Cleveland Cavaliers season | ||||
 | ||||
| Conference | Eastern | |||
| Division | Central | |||
| Founded | 1970 | |||
| History | Cleveland Cavaliers 1970–present[1][2] | |||
| Arena | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse | |||
| Location | Cleveland, Ohio | |||
| Team colors | Wine, gold, black[3][4][5] | |||
| Main sponsor | Cleveland-Cliffs[6] | |||
| CEO | Nic Barlage[7] | |||
| President | Koby Altman | |||
| General manager | Mike Gansey | |||
| Head coach | J. B. Bickerstaff | |||
| Ownership |
| |||
| Affiliation(s) | Cleveland Charge | |||
| Championships | 1 (2016) | |||
| Conference titles | 5 (2007, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) | |||
| Division titles | 7 (1976, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) | |||
| Retired numbers | 7 (7, 11, 22, 25, 34, 42, 43) | |||
| Website | www | |||
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The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team began play as an expansion team in 1970, along with the Portland Trail Blazers and Buffalo Braves. Home games were first held at Cleveland Arena from 1970 to 1974, followed by the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1994. Since 1994, the Cavs have played home games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland, which is shared with the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. Dan Gilbert has owned the team since March 2005.
The Cavaliers opened their inaugural season by losing their first 15 games and struggled in their early years, placing no better than sixth in the Eastern Conference during their first five seasons. The team won their first Central Division title in 1976, which also marked the first winning season and playoff appearance in franchise history, where they advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. The franchise was purchased by Ted Stepien in 1980. Stepien's tenure as owner was marked by six coaching changes, questionable trades and draft decisions, and poor attendance, leading to $15 million in financial losses. The Cavs went 66–180 over the course of those three seasons and endured a 24-game losing streak spanning the 1981–82 and 1982–83 seasons.
George and Gordon Gund purchased the franchise in 1983. During the latter half of the 1980s and through much of the 1990s, the Cavs were a regular playoff contender – led by players such as Mark Price and Brad Daugherty – and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1992. After the team's playoff appearance in the 1997–98 season, however, the Cavs had six consecutive losing seasons with no playoff action. Cleveland was awarded with the top overall pick in the 2003 draft, and they selected LeBron James. Behind James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Cavaliers again became a regular playoff contender by 2005. They made their first appearance in the NBA Finals in 2007 after winning the first Eastern Conference championship in franchise history. After failing to return to the NBA Finals in the ensuing three seasons, James joined the Miami Heat in 2010. As a result, the Cavaliers finished the 2010–11 season last in the conference, enduring a 26-game losing streak, the third-longest in NBA history. Between 2010 and 2014, however, the team won the top pick in the NBA draft lottery three times – first in 2011 where they selected Kyrie Irving, and again in 2013 and 2014.
After four seasons with the Heat and having won back-to-back titles in the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons, James returned to the Cavs in 2014 and led the team to four straight NBA Finals appearances. In 2016, the Cavaliers won their first NBA Championship, marking Cleveland's first major sports title since 1964. The 2016 NBA Finals victory over the Golden State Warriors marked the first time in Finals history a team had come back to win the series after trailing, 3–1. The Cavaliers have 23 playoff appearances and have won seven Central Division titles, five Eastern Conference titles and one NBA title.
- ^ "NBA.com/Stats–Cleveland Cavaliers seasons". Stats.NBA.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
- ^ "History: Team by Team" (PDF). 2018-19 Official NBA Guide (PDF). NBA Properties, Inc. October 8, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
- ^ "Cavaliers Introduce Modernized Logo Collection". Cavs.com (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. June 2, 2022. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
The updated colorway of wine, gold and black, carries forward the same iconic Cavaliers Wine and brings back a reflective, shiny, proper Cavaliers Gold that originated in the early 80's and re-emerged in the details of 2003-10 era uniforms.
- ^ "Cavaliers bring back gold, introduce modernized logo collection". NBA.com (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. June 2, 2022. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
- ^ "Cleveland Cavaliers Reproduction and Usage Guideline Sheet". NBA Properties, Inc. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ^ "Cleveland Cavaliers sign Cliffs jersey patch deal". Cavs.com (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. March 29, 2022. Archived from the original on July 22, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Executive Bios". Cavs.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
- ^ "Dan Gilbert Confirms Contract Has Been Signed to Purchase Cleveland Cavaliers Basketball Team; Rights to Operate Gund Arena". Cavs.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. January 3, 2005. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2015.