Changing Cleveland Team Nicknames?

On Grantland, Zach Lowe recently wrote, “The Definitive Guide to NBA Team Names.” On the list of 30 NBA team nicknames, Lowe ranked the Cleveland Cavaliers as #29. With such a low ranking, it made me wonder how I would react as a fan if the Cleveland Cavaliers were to change their name.

Are the Cavaliers deserving of a ranking this low for their nickname? Sure. Though, I'm not sure that I care all that much about their team nickname. It's likely because the Cavaliers will always be the third team in town for Cleveland fans unless LeBron James returns (frankly, the Cavaliers could have been called the Cleveland Urinals as long as LeBron was in a uniform and playing for them). It also might be that team nicknames don't have much of an impact on me. Then again, Cleveland is the home to sports teams who have had a uniquely different history when it comes to their nicknames.

For me, the Cavaliers were a team to cheer for when I was growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, and Larry Nance, the team was filled with talent and had the potential for a NBA title if Michael Jordan never existed. The Cavaliers were really the Cavs as evidenced by their iconic logo and appealing blue and orange jerseys. There was something special to the Richfield Coliseum and the Cavs logo on the floor.

If the Cavaliers are deserving of any criticism, it is the creation of possibly the most horrifying jersey in NBA history. In the wake of the move to the new Gund Arena, the Cavs chose to change their jerseys. I'm not sure who designed it, but it looked like the Saved by the Bell opening credits vomited out a basketball jersey. The jersey became a symbol of the mediocrity of the mid-1990s Cavs shuttling through journeyman players and starters that would be bench players on other teams with the only highlights coming from barely All-Stars in Terrell Brandon and Tyrone Hill. The era was highlighted by the acquisition of fat Shawn Kemp, which led to one unimpressive first-round playoff series loss to the Indiana Pacers.

This is sad in so many ways.

If the Cavaliers wanted to change their nickname, it should have come when Dan Gilbert acquired the team. Instead, Gilbert changed the team colors back to wine and gold, which made sense because all Cleveland fans really wanted to remember those glory days of Ted Stepien.

If anything, I'd care more about the Cavs going back to blue and orange. I don't have much of a feeling to the Cavaliers changing their name because, for all the reasons that Lowe states, it is meaningless. But, the Cavaliers are the Cavs, and they've been the Cavs for as long as I've lived, and even the name makes no sense, it's kind of become ingrained in Cleveland fans' minds enough to not touch it.

On the other hand, the Cleveland Indians have long been mired in controversy of whether or not they would change their team name. The Indians have more history than the Cavs, and defenders of the name say it was made as an homage to former player Louis Sockalexis. But, that point has never been verified as actual fact, and defenders will often find ways to use “history” and “tradition” as a means to cover up racism. Chief Wahoo is an odd and uncomfortable logo, and the long, sad history associated with Native Americans in this country is enough to say that no sports team really needs a nickname like this one. I'm more likely to want and not be affected by the Indians changing their name than the meaningless Cavaliers.

The interesting part to Cleveland nicknames is the Browns. In the wake of the Browns move, the city desperately wanted to keep the teams records, logo, and name. The idea of the Baltimore Browns was disturbing. When that was accomplished, it was a bizarrely accepted runner-up prize to the loss of the franchise for fans. Of course, time has told the story, and I think any Browns fans would rather be the Cleveland Pierogies and have two Super Bowl wins under their belt while seeing the Baltimore Browns be insignificant than the exact opposite occurring.

In the end, the Cavaliers are a terrible nickname, but I'm not sure it matters in the whole scope of Cleveland sports. We have had bigger issues with team nicknames, and the fan base of Cleveland likely wouldn't care what our team name was as long as we win one title.

Now, for another memorable moment that the mid-1990s Cavs brought us: