Cleveland Cavaliers 2000s and 2010s : Part 3 Quiz / Test | Sports

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. NBA great Shaquille O'Neal did once call Cleveland home. However, with the departure of LeBron James after the 2010 season, so too did O'Neal go packing as he did. What team did Shaq join after leaving the Cavs?

Answer: Boston Celtics

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. After O'Neal's season had ended the year prior in the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the hands of the Celtics, he joined Boston the very next season. He remained with the Celtics for one year after leaving the Cavs in 2010, then called it a career.

2. In the four years LeBron James was gone following his first departure in 2010, times were tough for the Cavs. Cleveland ultimately never made the playoffs without James around. What was their highest win total amongst those four seasons?

Answer: 33

The Cavs went 33-49 in the 2013-14 season, representing their highest win total during the first post-LeBron era of 2010-2014. Things were particularly ugly in the 2011 season, the first year without LeBron around, as the team lost 26 straight games at one point and finished with a terrible 19-63 record.

The following year, things were only marginally better at a 21-45 record, with no super lengthy losing streaks. In 2012, the team had another insignificant improvement to 24-58 before 2013's 33-49 standstill, representing their most successful, or perhaps better worded as least dreary, year of post-LeBron before LeBron returned to the team the next season.

3. In 2014, the Cavaliers traded for Luol Deng, a longtime Bull. Up to that point, Deng had worn the number nine throughout the entirety of his career. He came onto a Cavs team where Matthew Dellavedova had already been using that number. Did Dellavedova give up the number to Deng?

Answer: Yes

Deng's reasoning behind desiring the number nine is that he is one of nine children that his mother gave birth to. He wears the number to commemorate that fact. Dellavedova allegedly did not seek compensation or anything in return from Deng in giving up his number.

4. At the trade deadline in the fateful 2009-10 season, the Cavaliers very nearly struck a deal with the Phoenix Suns to acquire Amare Stoudemire. However, the future of one player whom the organization did not want to part with deterred the trade completely. What player did the Cavs specifically not want to part with in a trade?

Answer: JJ Hickson

Hickson, the team's first round pick in 2008, was viewed as the team's future star and the guy who would lead them should LeBron James part ways in that year's free agent period. Sadly, not pulling the trigger on a Hickson for Stoudemire trade probably cost the Cavs the opportunity to resign LeBron, and may yet have cost them a championship or two in the process.

A tandem of LeBron and Stoudemire in their respective primes would have been nigh unstoppable.

5. Beloved Cavalier Zydrunas Ilgauskas saw his jersey number eleven get retired in 2014, immortalizing him as an all-time Cavalier great. What year did the Cavs draft him?

Answer: 1996

Ilgauskas' playing career began in Lithuania as a member of their national team. He would cross over to the US two years later, where the Cavs selected him with the twentieth overall pick.

6. Former Cavalier (1996-2010) Zydrunas Ilgauskas would join the Cavaliers' front office in 2013, and remained with them for several years. What position was he hired as?

Answer: Special Assistant to the General Manager

He has remained in the position throughout the tenure of three separate general managers since taking the position in 2013.

7. In the realm of retirements, the Cavaliers have also honored a former team radio broadcaster. Who held this role down for the team from 1970-2010?

Answer: Joe Tait

Joe Tait, legendary team radio broadcaster, filled this role for a whopping 40 years. He was added to the team's "Wall of Honor" in 2019.

8. As a Cavalier, LeBron James and the late great Kobe Bryant had many, many bouts on the court against one another. What was the Cavaliers' record against the Lakers when LeBron and Kobe played for their respective teams?

Answer: 11-5

The Lakers won the first three and four of the first five contests between Kobe's Lakers and LeBron's Cavs. However, for the rest of their careers, LeBron would have Kobe's number, as the two players and their teams met twice a season during LeBron's time with the Cavs between both his tenures with Cleveland.

It is unfortunate that they never had the opportunity to face each other in the postseason.

9. In the midst of the 2019-20 season, the coronavirus pandemic interrupted the NBA season, and by extension, Cleveland's. What team were the Cavs set to face off against right before the season got delayed?

Answer: Charlotte Hornets

The team was scheduled to visit the Hornets two days before the season got delayed. Thankfully, at an awful 19-46 record seeing the team dead-last in their division and Conference, the Cavs were well out of playoff hopes at that time, so the game was not going to be terribly impactful anyway.

10. The brief rivalry between the Golden State Warriors and Cavs saw them face each other in the Finals in four consecutive seasons from 2015-2016-2017-2018. In how many of those did the winner get to celebrate their title on their own homecourt?

Answer: One

In 2017, the Warriors won the Finals in five games, beating the Cavaliers 129-120 in Game Five on their own court in Oakland. In the other three series, the eventual champion won it all while on the other team's homecourt. The Warriors celebrated their championships twice in Cleveland and once in Oakland, while the Cavs took home the gold and celebrated on Golden State's home court in 2016.

Source: Author cavalier87

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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Cleveland Cavaliers 2000s and 2010s : Part 3 Quiz

Clash swords with this harder edition of a Cleveland Cavaliers quiz, stemming from these two decades!

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