10 more days. We are getting so close to regular season basketball now. Today I am going over some of the 16 players to wear the number 10 jersey.
Going back to 1971 where we get to the first player.
Joe Cooke - 1971
Cooke played in just one NBA season in Cleveland. He wore the number 10 and played 73 games in his one and only year in the NBA. In those games he averaged 4.3 points a game.
Dick Snyder - 1975-1978
One thing that this jersey does have is players who spent more than a year on the team. Snyder was the first multi season player. In that time frame he also came as an important player on the “Miracle of Richfield”.
He would hit the shot that got them upset in the playoffs against the Washington Bullets and make the defensive stop. In 300 games he averaged 10.5 points
A homegrown hero, from North Canton, Ohio he went into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
Walt Frazier - 1979-1980
I spoke about Frazier in my number 11 story yesterday. When he was traded to Cleveland, he was not the happiest. However, he said it made him ready to retire from basketball as he would play in just 15 games with the number 10 before retiring from basketball.
Milt Palacio - 2003
Considered the “Worst Point Guard of the Century”, you might think of it as an insult, but in Cleveland it was meant as a term of endearment.
During an ultimate tank season, Palacio played 80 games for the Cavs in 2003, starting in 46 of them and averaged 5 points a game. He was a floor general and gritty point guard for the team that was really bad and looking to get LeBron James.
Wally Szczerbiak - 2008-2009
Between 1980 and 2008, the 10 jersey was filled with one off appearances or limited game time until an aging Szczerbiak made way to Cleveland for the end of his career.
In an 11 player trade with Chicago and Charlotte he ended up in Cleveland and then retired at just 32 years old due to knee degeneration.
Darius Garland - 2019-2026
To wrap up the number 10, we end with one that may be heartbreaking for fans. After being drafted by Cleveland, Garland was an early piece of this new look Cavs team that would go on to be competitors in a post LeBron era again.
Early on he was electric and looked to be the leading man for a championship team. Then injuries became a problem and he missed a lot of time.
After multiple early round exits in the playoffs and missing time he was traded to the Clippers for a 36 year old James Harden. The trade got a lot of hate, and will be talked about for years to come if it does not lead to another Cleveland championship.
Garland is now looking like the new leader of the Clippers.
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