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Wall of Honor

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Mott the Hoople

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As part of the 50th anniversary, the Cavs will be having a Wall of Honor at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The initial group of 5 will be announced soon.

Rules:
- People already honored with retired numbers, banners are automatically in. So Bingo Smith, Nance Sr., AC, Daugherty, Price, Z, Nate Thurmond, and Joe Tait are in.
- You have to be retired 2 years. (Sorry LBJ)
- Had to play for the Cavs for at least 2 seasons (Sorry Ron Harper)

So here are my nominations:
World B. Free
Jim Chones
Lenny Wilkins
Andre Miller
JR
Who are your nominations?
 
As part of the 50th anniversary, the Cavs will be having a Wall of Honor at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The initial group of 5 will be announced soon.

Rules:
- People already honored with retired numbers, banners are automatically in. So Bingo Smith, Nance Sr., AC, Daugherty, Price, Z, Nate Thurmond, and Joe Tait are in.
- You have to be retired 2 years. (Sorry LBJ)
- Had to play for the Cavs for at least 2 seasons (Sorry Ron Harper)

So here are my nominations:
World B. Free
Jim Chones
Lenny Wilkins
Andre Miller
JR
Who are your nominations?

Didn't Harper play three seasons for the Cavs?
 
Lol JR.

The guy who didn’t know the score that one time...and quit on the team last year.

I know he was a big part of our team 2015-2018, but the way it ended kinda ruined it.
 
Well, the Cavaliers have dished out some rather undeserved retired numbers in my opinion, but that's not the point of this discussion.

These guys are already in:
  • #7 Bingo Smith (1970-1979)
  • #11 Zydrunas Ilgauskas (1996-2010)
  • #22 Larry Nance (1988-1994)
  • #25 Mark Price (1986-1995)
  • #34 Austin Carr (1971-1980)
  • #42 Nate Thurmond (1976-1977)
  • #43 Brad Daugherty (1986-1994)
  • Joe Tait
Here are some guys outside of this list that I would nominate:
  • John "Hot Rod" Williams (1987-1994)
    • Just want to front this by saying, the fact that we've retired the numbers of guys like Bingo Smith and Nate Thurmond, but chose not to put #18 in the rafters is a pretty good joke. If Thurmond and Smith deserve it (they don't), then Hot Rod definitely deserves it
    • 5th all-time in Cavaliers win-shares, trailing only LeBron James, Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas
    • 5th in franchise history in games played
    • 3rd in franchise history in minutes played
    • 7th in franchise history in made field goals
    • 4th in franchise history in free throws made
    • 3rd in franchise history in offensive rebounds
    • 5th in franchise history in total rebounds
    • 6th in franchise history in steals
    • 2nd in franchise history in blocks
    • 7th in franchise history in points scored
  • Anderson Varejao (2005-2016)
    • One of the best hustle guys and biggest fan favorites in Cavalier history, along with being a member of three Eastern Conference Champion squads
    • 7th all-time in Cavaliers win-shares, trailing LBJ, Price, Daugherty, Big Z, Hot Rod, and Nance Sr.
    • 7th in franchise history in games played
    • 4th in franchise history in offensive rebounds
    • 6th in franchise history in total rebounds
    • 8th in franchise history in steals
    • T-7th in franchise history in blocks
  • Lenny Wilkens (1972-1974) as a player, (1986-1993) as a coach
    • Hall of fame point guard who spent two of his twilight years with the Cavaliers, where he put up averages of 18.5 PPG and 7.7 APG
    • 574 wins as Cavaliers head coach
    • 3x Coach of the Month with Cleveland
  • Terrell Brandon (1991-1997)
    • Gave us a bit of hope after the great team of the late-80s/early-90s really fell apart
    • 10th all-time in Cavaliers win-shares
    • 2x all-star with the Cavaliers
    • 8th in franchise PER
    • 4th in franchise history in assists
    • 5th in franchise history in steals
The last spot would probably go to a guy like Campy Russell, Ron Harper, Mike Mitchell, Mo Williams, Craig Ehlo, or somebody of that ilk.

We're really not blessed with a storied legacy of HOF caliber franchise players like a lot of teams are. Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye both could be guys that get in down the line as well for their impact as huge culture and team guys for a championship squad.
 
I think we're missing some real obvious names in here...

What about Nick Mileti? The original founder and owner?

What about Bill Fitch? The original coach who also put together the team (and a newly minted Hall of Famer)?

What about Gordon Gund? The owner who saved the franchise from the pits of Stepien?

Just to name a few.
 
I think we're missing some real obvious names in here...

What about Nick Mileti? The original founder and owner?

What about Bill Fitch? The original coach who also put together the team (and a newly minted Hall of Famer)?

What about Gordon Gund? The owner who saved the franchise from the pits of Stepien?

Just to name a few.

Those three have to be in. I also think it's criminal that Hot Rod's jersey wasn't retired. He had a lot of awful breaks in his life and was a very good player for us.
 
The Cavs have announced the inaugural class for the new Wall of Honor.
All the picks seem to make sense when you think about it.
The hororees are:
Nick Mileti - the founder and first owner
Bill Fitch - the first coach
John Johnson - the first player the Cavs drafted in the college draft.
Wayne Embry - not the first GM, but pretty close.
John "Hotrod" Williams - sort of an odd pick for the first class. But I've got no real problem with it.
 

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