Cleveland Cavaliers history

Titles, retired numbers, the franchise timeline, a season-by-season arc, and head-to-head records.

Banners in the rafters

1 championship in 57 seasons since 1970-71. The last one was 11 seasons ago.

Champs16

2010s

1970-7157 seasons2026-27

Franchise scrapbook

All-time ledger and fan lore through 2025-26.

What counts

Records, titles and leaders include every league this franchise played in (NBA, ABA or BAA). Retired numbers include banners for coaches and owners. Streaks and lore are curated.

Championships

2016

Finals appearances

5 conference titles

Playoff seasons

Seasons that reached the postseason

Regular season

2,148-2,369

47.6% all-time

Peaks & valleys

Best season

66-16

2008-09

Worst season

15-67

1981-82

Longest win streak

Multiple LeBron eras · curated

Longest losing streak

2010-11 after The Decision · curated

Division titles

Retired numbers

History as of

2025-26

Full franchise records

Franchise leaders

Career totals in this continuous franchise.

Points

Fan lore

The weird, wonderful, and argument-starting stuff.

2016 title: first major Cleveland sports championship in 52 years.
Came back from 3-1 down vs. 73-win Golden State in the Finals.
The Shot (1989) still lives rent-free in Chicago.

Continuous franchises keep relocated history. Conference titles count from 1970-71, when the NBA split into conferences. Season boards and roster live on the other team tabs.

Franchise timeline

Only the current name is mapped for this franchise. Earlier names, if any, are listed in the scrapbook above.

Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland · CLE · 1970-71 → present
Open 1970-71

Franchise scrapbook ↑ · All franchises

Team Arc

How this team got here, from season board history (not asset genealogy).

Show full history →Rank this team's seasons

Team-season board rows available 2021-22 → 2025-26 for this team. Cross-season metrics limited to stable counting/efficiency fields (point differential, TS%, eFG%, PPG, opp PPG). Arc coverage starts 2001-02 (documented team-board reliability floor). Earlier seasons are not treated as zeros. Absent from board in 2026-27.

Continuity follows this team's id across seasons. It is not a merged multi-franchise genealogy.

Biggest team changes

Same noise floors and trend method as analyzeTeamProfile.

2024-25 → 2025-26
- Point differential-5.4
- Opponent PPG+3.0
- Turnovers / game+0.8
- Blocks / game+0.7
2023-24 → 2024-25
- Point differential+7.1
- Opponent PPG+2.2
- Steals / game+0.8
- 3-point volume+3.5 pts
2022-23 → 2023-24
- Opponent PPG+3.2
- Point differential-2.9
- Assist / turnover+0.20
- 3-point volume+5.1 pts
2021-22 → 2022-23
- Point differential+3.2
- Opponent PPG+1.3
- Turnovers / game-0.8
- Blocks / game+0.5

Season	Diff	TS%	eFG%	Off	Def	Explore
2025-26	+4.1	59.5%	56.1%	119.5	115.4	Season·Compare·Evidence·Games·Ask
2024-25	+9.5	60.7%	57.8%	121.9	112.4	Season·Compare·Evidence·Games

Off = team PPG · Def = opponent PPG. Missing cells are unavailable, not zero. Pick a season to see that year's roster on the Players tab.

Loading Team Arc…