The Cleveland Cavaliers are no strangers to rolling out merchandise for the masses. While Nike produces countless colorways of the LeBron James shoe line, the Cavs provide fans with a slew of apparel to don on any given night; the biggest item of which comes via the jersey.
Last season, the Cavs not only wore their standard versions of wine, blue or white, but they also wore “Hardwood Classics” wine/gold as well as a “Cav Fanatic” royal blue version that still confuses most fans. This year’s Fanatic jersey was mentioned a few weeks ago. But thanks to Paul Lukas (via V to the G) we see that this year’s Hardwood Classic may be one of the best jerseys to ever feature the Cavs name on the front.
The 1988-89 jersey, pictured to the right, was the one worn by Ron Harper, Mark Price and Brad Daugherty – all three of which were only in their second year in the league. This Lenny Wilkens-led team went 57-25 and finished second in the Central. Based on the handy old Pythagorean W-L, this team should have actually went 60-22, which would have been tops in the league.
Daugherty and Price both finished the season with 18.9 points per game with Harper right behind with 18.6. The Cavaliers have not had a team with three different 18-point scorers since.
Embrace it, people.
