There is a large electronic billboard I see every day on my commute to work that constantly rotates its advertisements, and it occasionally shows announcements for upcoming sporting events. About two weeks ago as I navigated through the hell that is I-480 West, I stared in consternation at a giant cutout of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, wearing his royal-blue throwback No. 11 and a goofy grin, announcing his jersey retirement March 8 against the Knicks. First I was puzzled, then I thought about it some more and I think I discovered what Dan Gilbert and the rest of the Cavs organization is trying to accomplish with the honoring of a good, but not great, basketball player.
Mention Ilgauskas to a Cavs fan and you’ll usually get a favorable response–people remember his hustle, loyalty to the Cavs, and a proclivity to shoot and make important 3-pointers at random times:
Anybody recognize the #31 rocking a Kings’ jersey in that second clip? Big white guys who shoot 3s are awesome.
Of course, bringing up “Big Z” to Clevelanders also can be a painful reminder of a lot of bad stuff in Cavs’ history. The team all-around sucked for the LBJ-less years that Z was with the Cavs, and even with LeBron the team was never able to win a championship. And when LeBron left, Ilgauskas left too–but could we really blame him? Dude just wanted a ring–and in 2010-2011 surrounded by Wade, Bosh and James even that couldn’t happen. Also–I’m sure that with this disappointing 2013-2014 campaign and since the last player to have his jersey retired by the Cavs (Mark Price) played in Cleveland almost 20 years ago, Gibert and company are hoping to inject a little positivity into the Q. Those rafters are getting mighty dusty.
Is it a reach for the Cavaliers to retire Z’s jersey? Let’s take a look at what the Lithuanian accomplished in his 15(!) years as a Cav:
- All-time leader offensive rebounds (2,336)
- All-time leader total rebounds (5,904)
- All-time leader blocks (1,269)
- Most games played in Cavs’ history (771)
Ilgauskas’ averaged an even 13 PPG throughout his career, as well as 7.3 total rebounds per game and a 48% FG shooting percentage. Great numbers? Of course. Worth retiring his number next to other Cavaliers’ greats like Brad Daugherty, Price and Austin Carr? That’s debatable.
The decision to retire Ilgauskas’ jersey speaks more to the collective psyche of the Cleveland Cavaliers and its despondent fanbase. Gilbert and company are determined to take any sort of positive from the last 10 years or so of Cavs’ basketball, including the now infamous LeBron era, and recognizing one of their only loyal players certainly does that. The fans of Cleveland never got to experience the joy of winning an NBA championship–it was all beyond our control. Now we’re going to recognize and celebrate something we can control, however subjective it may be.
It’s already been confirmed that King James will be attending Z’s jersey retirement, to mixed public opinion. LeBron has had nothing but good things to say about his and Zydrunas’ time together in Cleveland, calling him the veteran leadership he looked to when he first got into the NBA. Here’s hoping the camera stays trained more on Z than LBJ while that jersey is unfurled.