Zydrunas Ilgauskas about to join Top 10 in longest-tenured Cleveland Athletes

[Gunther]

SOURCE

Cleveland Cavaliers' Zydrunas Ilgauskas about to join Top 10 in longest-tenured Cleveland athletes
By Starting Blocks
October 25, 2009, 5:11PM

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Cleveland Cavaliers' accomplished veteran center.Once the Cleveland Cavaliers game-night roster becomes official for Tuesday night's season-opener against the Boston Celtics at Quicken Loans Arena, Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas will have achieved a remarkable milestone.

The 7-3 Ilgauskas, 34, will begin his 14th season as a Cavalier. That will tie him for 10th place on the all-time list of most seasons with a Cleveland professional basketball, baseball or football team, including: 40 years of Cavaliers basketball (beginning with the 1970-71 season) in the NBA, 109 years of Cleveland baseball (Blues, Bronchos and Naps before becoming the Indians in 1915) in the American League; 61 years of Browns football (1946-49 in the AAFC and 1950-95 and 1998-2009) in the NFL.

Ilgauskas' accomplishment is especially impressive when it's considered that he has broken a foot on six occasions, and has had five foot surgeries - the last two dramatic re-structures of each foot.

Ilgauskas was selected by the Cavaliers with the 20th pick in the first round of the 1996 draft. Wayne Embry, then the Cavaliers general manager, tabbed Ilgauskas even though he didn't play basketball anywhere during the 1995-96 season due to his first broken foot.

NBA scouts who hadn't heard of Ilgauskas learned about him on Nov. 22, 1994, when he scored 26 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked four shots for the Lithuanian national team against U.S. national powerhouse University of Kentucky in Rupp Arena.

Ilgauskas was impressive in preseason work with the Cavaliers before a broken foot sidelined him for what would have been his 96-97 rookie season. Then, Ilgauskas made the 1997-98 NBA rookie first-team, and won the Schick Rookie Game MVP award during All-Star weekend in New York's Madison Square Garden.

In the next three seasons, though, Ilgauskas broke a foot on three occasions and played just 29 games.

More than a month into the 2001-02 season, Ilgauskas returned to play and has been a Cavaliers mainstay since. Twice, the Eastern Conference coaches picked him to play in the All-Star Game.

It's simple to speculate how great of a career the skilled big man could have fashioned had he been healthier, and if all of the injuries and surgeries hadn't robbed him of much of the mobility he once had. Yet, Ilgauskas has overcome the adversity to rank first on the Cavaliers all-time list in rebounds (5,559) and blocked shots (1,219) and fourth in points (10,142).

Following are the longest careers for Cavaliers, Indians or Browns players in Cleveland. We count seasons missed due to military service or injuries, and in the case of Indians players, seasons split between the major and minor leagues.

1. Bob Feller, 21 seasons, Indians, 1936-41; 1942-45 World War II; 1945-56

Lou Groza, 21, Browns, 1946-59; 1960 retired; 1961-67

3. Mel Harder, 20, Indians, 1928-47

4. Bob Lemon, 18, Indians, 1941-42; 1943-45 World War II; 1946-58

5. Jim Hegan, 17, Indians, 1941-42; 1943-45 World War II; 1946-57

6. Gene Hickerson, 16, Browns, 1958-73

Clay Matthews, 16, Browns, 1978-93

8. Willis Hudlin, 15, Indians, 1926-40

Terry Turner, 15, Indians, 1904-18

10. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 14, Cavaliers, 1996-current

Don Cockroft, 14, Browns, 1967-80

Doug Dieken, 14, Browns, 1971-84

Jack Graney, 14, Indians, 1908, 1910-22

Charley Jamieson, 14, Indians, 1919-32

15. Lou Boudreau, 13, Indians, 1938-50

Bob Gain, 13, Browns, 1952, 1953 Korean War, 1954-64

Steve Gromek, 13, Indians, 1941-53

Jim Houston, 13, Browns, 1960-72

Ken Keltner, 13, Indians, 1937-44, 1945 World War II, 1946-49

Napoleon Lajoie, 13, Bronchos, 1902, Naps, 1903-14

Charlie Nagy, 13, Indians, 1990-2002

Ozzie Newsome, 13, Browns, 1978-1990

Steve O'Neill, 13, Indians, 1911-23

Dick Schafrath, 13, Browns, 1959-71

Clarence Scott, 13, Browns, 1971-83

Luke Sewell, 13, Indians, 1921-32, 1939

Ilgauskas was not the Cavaliers first pick in the 1996 draft. They took center-forward Vitaly Potapenko of the Ukraine with the 12th pick. Teams bypassed high school sensation Kobe Bryant - knowing he was particular about where he wanted to play - until the Charlotte Hornets took him with the 13th pick. Reluctant to play for Charlotte, Bryant was traded several weeks later to Los Angeles for veteran Lakers center Vlade Divac. Although Divac was an above-average player, the trade turned out to be one of the most lopsided in sports history.

Ilgauskas' tenure with the Cavaliers is easily the longest in team history. Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry played 10 full seasons (1990-2000) for the Cavs and John "Hot Rod" Williams was essentially a Cavalier for 10 full seasons. Drafted in 1985, he sat out his first Cleveland season while a game-fixing scandal was being investigated at Tulane, where he had played college basketball. After being cleared, Williams played with the Cavaliers from the 1986-85 season through the 1994-95 season.

Bobby "Bingo" Smith was on the first Cavaliers team, in 1970-71, then was traded to the San Diego Clippers early in his 10th Cleveland season, 1979-80.

 

[IBleedWine&Gold]

Hopefully Lebron is on that list in 10 years as well.....

 

[Gunther]

Hopefully Lebron is on that list as well in 10 years.....

Yeah! Technically, he would make the list in 6 years after Tuesday. He has a chance to be #1 on this list, and that is something I would love to see.

 

[bob2the2nd]

this list is really weird. why do all of the WWII guys get credit for being on the team when they werent playing for them? even groza gets credit for the season he was retired?? um. WTF?

 

[Gunther]

this list is really weird. why do all of the WWII guys get credit for being on the team when they werent playing for them? even groza gets credit for the season he was retired?? um. WTF?

My guess is because they were still on the team, regardless if they were able to play or not. The team still owned their contracts even though they were fighting overseas. Same as if someone was injured for a whole season - they're still part of the team, even though they can't play.

 

[rabman_gold]

this list is really weird. why do all of the WWII guys get credit for being on the team when they werent playing for them? even groza gets credit for the season he was retired?? um. WTF?

Be careful there... otherwise, they'll take back all the seasons Z missed ('96-97, '99-00)...

He'd only count for 12 seasons after the first game.

Nah. He's earned the 14 seasons just like Bob Feller earned his time from missing 3 years and coming back strong for the next 10 something years.

 

[bob2the2nd]

Be careful there... otherwise, they'll take back all the seasons Z missed ('96-97, '99-00)...

He'd only count for 12 seasons after the first game.

Nah. He's earned the 14 seasons just like Bob Feller earned his time from missing 3 years and coming back strong for the next 10 something years.

oh come on dont be stupid, there is a HUGE difference between being injured and not being in the same country as the team (not bashing the service). according to the way this list is made Wally Z still gets credit this season as being a cav, because they still own his rights. Hell were the WW2 guys even listed as being on the roster during their service years?

its a good idea but needs to be recalculated to really show seasons with the team, not seasons the team owned the players rights.

 

[Kobay]

My sincerest hope is that this turns out to be Z's greatest season ever. Playing against 2nd units and, occasionally, with Shaq he should be able to do things that play right into his strengths. What 2nd unit center can stop his outside shot? And if he commands crazy attention when he is in the game that will open up opportunities for the rest of the second unit guys. Great icing on the cake for the big guy's career.

 

[Gunther]

oh come on dont be stupid, there is a HUGE difference between being injured and not being in the same country as the team (not bashing the service). according to the way this list is made Wally Z still gets credit this season as being a cav, because they still own his rights. Hell were the WW2 guys even listed as being on the roster during their service years?

its a good idea but needs to be recalculated to really show seasons with the team, not seasons the team owned the players rights.

I disagree. The player is still a part of the team, but is engaged in the higher purpose of serving their country in a time of war. Baseball has always made exceptions for players who are drafted, or who choose military service in a time of war. It is addressed in the CBA as well.

By your logic, we would have to recalculate for injury time as well, which makes no sense. A player can no more choose the amount of time they are injured than they can choose the amount of military service they are expected to perform in a time of war.

Commissioner Landis wrote a famous letter to FDR after Pearl Harber asking if MLB should continue for the duration of the war. FDR gave him the famous "green light" to continue operations throughout the war as he felt it would boost American morale back home (which it did). The implications of this are huge - not the least of which are the small matter of time of service - it must be implied that the contract is in continuation.

If the war had not existed, the player would have played unless injured. I don't understand your logic.

 

[rabman_gold]

oh come on dont be stupid, there is a HUGE difference between being injured and not being in the same country as the team (not bashing the service). according to the way this list is made Wally Z still gets credit this season as being a cav, because they still own his rights. Hell were the WW2 guys even listed as being on the roster during their service years?

its a good idea but needs to be recalculated to really show seasons with the team, not seasons the team owned the players rights.

I was just kidding. Sorry for the lack of a meter to gauge that...

You're right, to some extent. Although it's hard to judge Z actually being WITH the team when he couldn't practice regularly. For example, Kevin Willis should technically have played the most seasons by an NBA player ever, but missed one of the earlier seasons (late 80s). They just don't usually judge seasons based on being at a practice facility. They didn't play, period. So it was either count seasons under contract or count seasons they actually played.

 

[AMC]

If we trade him and he never plays a game with the other team, and we resign him after butought, is he still considered a Lifelong Cav?

 

[PIP]

:woot: