May 16, 2012

Report: Cavs to Retire Ilgauskas’ Jersey

August 23, 2011 By 17 Comments

The Cleveland Cavaliers will reportedly hoist a banner with the No. 11 on it as plans are allegedly in place to retire the jersey of longtime center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Lithuainia Basketball is reporting that first-overall selection Kyrie Irving was looking to select Ilgauskas’ old number as his own; though No. 1 with the Duke Blue Devils, that number is currently owned by current Cavaliers guard Daniel “Boobie” Gibson.  However, upon inquiring within, Irving was told that the No. 11 would not be an option for active players as it would soon join the likes of Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance high above the floor at Quicken Loans Arena.  Irving’s Plan B, apparently, was the number 15.

Given that the 7-foot-4-ince Ilgauskas is currently an NBA player, vying for a championship ring with the Miami Heat, and that said players are locked out, the team cannot comment at this time.  But given what Ilgauskas meant to the city, the way he battled back from multiple surgeries on his foot and the fact that he has played the most games in a Cavaliers jersey, the potential retirement of Big Z’s kit comes as little surprise.

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  • Lyon

    I thought I saw he was going to be #2.

    Glad big Z will get his recognition. He angered me to no end when he played here, but he was a big part of our team all those years.

  • mgbode

    good for Z. I assume the Cavs won’t actually retire the number until Z officially retires, but it’s nice that they are holding the number as a place-holder until then.

  • Harv 21

    Ugh. Cavs just cannot get this retired number thing right.

    First, they desperately try to create a “legacy” by retiring the numbers of has-beens who barely played here and the mediocre because, you know, every other team has numbers retired. Looking at you, Nate and Bingo. About as legit as the scoreboard screaming “let’s make some noise!!!”

    Now, they transparently try to wash away the stench of their only great player by juxtaposing the jersey of another ultimately mediocre player, albeit nice guy. Cut the cheap pub stunts, Dan. Laughable that an organization that made the Finals once in 40 years, and one league MVP, has so many jerseys in the rafters. Just move on and concentrate on rebuilding.

  • Horace

    LOL @ Harv21. Nate Thurmond played less than 2 seasons with us and we retired his number!!! All these years, I thought he was some key piece during our 70s years, but I had to look up his stats based on your comments. Wow, I cannot believe we retired his number.

  • Ben

    The Indians and the Cavs have each retired 6 numbers. That tells you all you need to know about how deep the Cavs had to dig.

  • http://www.morningjournal.com/content/articles/2011/01/31/sports/doc4d463b0cd062d819200129.jpg Return of the (Alex) Mack

    @ Harv I am all for retiring Z’s jersey… however, i was looking up his career stats to try to make an argument for number 11 to be hanging from the rafters at the Q but i really can’t. he was a decent player for a number of years who made 2 All Star games.

  • jimkanicki

    insert [what harv said] here.

    add: i dont find Z’s signing with the heat a benign act of a guy looking for his ring. dont know, but i believe the lakes, mavs, bulls all couldve used a cheap 7-3 center. he couldve signed anywhere to ‘chase his ring.’

    he broke faith with gilbert and the fans by going with lebron. i have no idea why we should pretend otherwise.

  • Nate

    To all those who are bashing Z… I will agree that while his numbers do not stand up against other NBA greats, the fact is he’s been one of the best all time for the Cavs. He’s not going into the NBA hall of fame, he’s just getting commemorated for his services to the organization.

  • 5KMD

    Daugherty and Price should be the only ones up there. Nance should be given consideration.

  • Swig

    He holds the team records for: Games Played, Rebounds, Blocks, and is 2nd in points. Being a top 100 player all time isn’t a requirement for retiring a jersey. He meant a lot to the franchise and is being recognized for it.

    This has nothing to do with LBJ, or questionable decisions made by prior management.

  • mgbode

    @5K – Austin Carr doesn’t deserve it? Until Price/Daughtery/Nance arrived, Carr was all the Cavs had in their history.

  • Chucky Brown

    not on board with this, there are already too many jerseys up there for a championshipless franchise

    i think the polite applause he recieved when he came back w/ the f’n heat was thanks enough

  • Harv 21

    Swig: disagree. exactly what did Z meant to the franchise, and why honor him immediately if it’s not about LeBron? Most games played is certainly admirable in light of injuries,but the rest is meh (total rebounds include his nightly pattycakes with himself against the backboard, and his competition for blocked shots is …?). This is akin to honoring Phil Hubbard.

    mgbode: a rare disagreement with you. Wondering how many readers here actually saw Austin play. He was explosive his first 2-3 years, with Lenny (his initial backcourt mate) setting him up and getting him comfortable his rookie year on an historically bad team. Then within just a few years in he blew out his knee, in the pre-arthroscopic days. Eventually cam,e close to having the same ability to impact a game. I understand he’s a franchise rep and very loveable in his mush-mouthed way, but his impact as a focal point on the court lasted a fraction of the years Price had, for example. Don’t think his inclusion is as egregious because he was one of the franchise’s first high profile players, but his inclusion is not a no-brainer either. When league fans think of Austin Carr, they think of his NCAA scoring average, not his pro performance. And in the late ’70s when he was finishing up few here would have thought retiring his number was a fait accomplit.

    Make a ring of honor, or slap up Z’s number on on a mezzanine wall for a while, or something. But why keep cheapening the honor of a retired number.

  • Harv 21

    typo: meant “never came close to impacting…”

  • mgbode

    @Harv – okay, if we make it a ring of honor instead, I would be fine with that.

    I am of the personal opinion that there should be 1 retired jersey (or ring of honored player) from each generation of a team. I agree that Austin Carr had a short career and didn’t have the late-career impact he had early on. but, he is still the best player from that era to get such an honor IMO.

    as such, here are the players that I would have jersey’s retired and/or ring of honored:

    70′s Cavs — Austin Carr
    80′s Cavs — Mark Price
    90′s Cavs — ??? – my pick: Daugherty
    00′s Cavs — LeBron James (eventually – after he retires and the bad blood has subsided he deserves to be up there despite everything off the court)

    here are the guys vying for the 90′s Cavs spot:

    1. Daugherty – small window, but very impactful. would be my leader in the clubhouse.
    2. Nance – way too small of a window with the Cavs.
    3. Terrell Brandon – again, too small of a window though he was brilliant.
    4. Zydrunus – his real accomplishments came in the 00′s, but he had a bigger window than Brandon and Nance and his off-court stuff counts too. this would be a way of shoe-horning him in.

    I know it’s cheating (if we go strictly by eras than Daugherty would count in the Price-era), but who is worthy from the Fratello Cavs? it was a constant shuffle of players with Brandon really being the only elite guy and he only had 3 seasons of impact with the Cavs.

    Also, Daugherty only playing with the Cavs helps bolster his case (though cut short by injury).

  • Harv 21

    under your system 1980s couldn’t be Price (he was 90′s) – probably stuck with Free, Mike Mitchell, World Free, aka meh, meh-meh, and mehmehmeh.

    Here’s the essence of my beef: Creating fake past glory is a refuge created by front offices too incompetent to succeed. Screw that, I was there wasting my time watching your garbage and won’t mindlessly repeat your invented glory for Bingo. If everyone is special, no one is, and I demand special from you. It’s Brook Jacoby playing in all-star games because every team gets represented. Look at the jerseys other NBA orgs have retired and, with the exception of Sacramento, you know the vast majority of these guys as exceptional ballers. What the Cavs are doing is so transparent as to be embarrassing.

  • Chucky Brown

    fwiw, im all for honoring Phil Hubbard