LeBron James is widely accepted as the greatest player to ever suit up for the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James notably brought the team a championship in 2016, and he is clearly respected in his home state of Ohio.
After LeBron James left the team after the 2017-18 season, the Cavaliers were in a short rebuilding phase and ceased to be a competitive team. However, they are now a solid young team, featuring two All-Stars in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen. Adam Silver has even claimed that they're becoming a superteam.
Reddit user LakeErieMovement has recently pointed out that the Cleveland Cavaliers have gotten their 42nd win of the season against the Orlando Magic, which means they are guaranteed a winning record. That means that the Cleveland Cavaliers have managed to finish with a winning record without LeBron James on the roster, which has not happened since the 1997-98 season.
Since 1997-98, the Cleveland Cavaliers have never finished the season with a winning record when LeBron James was not on the roster. The closest they came was in the 2013-14 season in which the Cavs finished 33-49.
With tonight's 107-101 win against the Orlando Magic, the Cavaliers have secured their 42nd win of the season.
This is definitely a fantastic achievement for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It shows that they are headed in the right direction as a franchise. While they are still a play-in tier team currently, they have clearly shown improvement from the past.
Hopefully, we see the Cleveland Cavaliers get healthy sooner rather than later. The absence of Jarrett Allen has led to them being much worse on the defensive end, and they have also missed Collin Sexton for a majority of the season. Even if they don't make the playoffs this year though, the team clearly has a bright future and will be a competitive team for years to come.
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