Collin Sexton made a splash Thursday night, and not just by being the Cavaliers’ pick with the eighth overall selection in the NBA Draft.
He also said he was going to wear the #2, last worn in Cleveland by Kyrie Irving.
Now, there is no doubt that Irving will hold a special place in franchise history for making “The Shot (Cleveland version)”, which gave the Cavs their only title in 2016.
He deserves adulation for taking and making it, especially since both teams had a difficult time scoring in the last five minutes of Game 7.
However, he also decided to demand a trade after the 2016-17 season, and Cleveland granted him that request, sending him to Boston. It has also been reported that he planned to have elective knee surgery if he was not traded, making it so the Cavaliers didn’t have a choice.
So, some fans reacted with outrage at Sexton’s wanting to wear #2.
First, the rookie did wear the number at Alabama. It’s not as if Sexton wore #33 in college and decided to wear #2 here to troll Irving and his fans.
The other argument from fans, we believe these are younger fans, is that Irving should be honored some day by having his jersey retired here as the second best player in the history of the franchise.
We believe this is very clearly up for debate.
In our opinion, Mark Price is the second best Cavalier ever behind of course, LeBron James, and win shares concurs with this theory. Here are the franchise’s top five in win shares:
LeBron James 154.1
Mark Price 65.4
Brad Daugherty 65.2
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 63.4
Hot Rod Williams 58.3
Irving ranks eighth in team history (behind Larry Nance and Anderson Varejao) in this category.
To determine how win shares are calculated, please visit BasketballReference.com, but the all time leaders in the category are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone, James, and Michael Jordan.
It is an accumulative statistic, meaning the longer you play, the higher number you get, and that is one of our arguments against Irving at the second best Cavalier.
Price played nine seasons in Cleveland, and four times made the all-NBA team, a first teamer once (the only other Cav besides James to have that honor) and third team three times.
Irving played with the Cavaliers for just six seasons, making the all-NBA teams just once, a third team selection in 2014-15.
That indicates how both players were regarded within their eras. By this measurement, it shows Price was regarded as an elite player at his time. Although Irving is a gifted player, he has only been regarded as a top six guard in the NBA once.
And in looking at individual stats, Irving leads Price in points per game (21.6 to 16.4 with Cleveland) and rebounds.
The difference in points is attributable to Irving taking five more shots per game than Price, as the latter shot a higher percentage from the field.
As a point guard, Price averaged 7.2 assists with the Cavs, compared to Irving’s 5.5. Price was also a better three point shooter, making 40.9% compared to 38.3%.
Look, we are not saying Kyrie Irving is not a great player, nor can the story of the Cavs’ only title be told without the important contribution of Kyrie Irving.
But second best player in Cavs’ history? Retire his number? Let’s look at that without the emotion of the 2016 NBA Championship or the emotion of how his time with the Cavaliers ended.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 