In 2003, Cleveland landed a once-in-a-lifetime generational player. More than a decade later, LeBron James delivered the city its first NBA championship. But what if the franchise had been blessed with a player like that years earlier?
Before getting into that rewritten history, let's take a look at the Cavaliers' story before our simulation begins. The franchise began in 1970–71, but its first five seasons were anything but easy.
That all changed in 1976, when Cleveland won 49 games and advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they fell to the eventual champion Boston Celtics.
That would prove to be the Cavaliers' only real bright spot before our simulation began. The following two seasons ended with first-round playoff exits, and Cleveland wouldn't return to the postseason until the beginning of our timeline in 1984, when they once again lost in the first round.
The Cavaliers reached the playoffs in both 1985 and 1986, but as lower seeds, they once again couldn't get beyond the opening round. While those three consecutive playoff appearances weren't exactly impressive, it was still better than reality, where Cleveland made the playoffs only once during those three seasons, and, you guessed it, lost in the first round.
The following year, Cleveland missed the playoffs but won the NBA Draft Lottery. With the first pick in the draft, the Cavaliers selected David Robinson, who would begin playing immediately in our universe.
In real life, Cleveland held the No. 7 pick and selected Kevin Johnson, who was later traded midseason to the Phoenix Suns. Johnson went on to have a remarkable career in Phoenix, while the Cavaliers wouldn't advance beyond the first round for another five years.
Getting Robinson alone would have been enough to completely change the franchise. What happened next was almost unbelievable.
Dominique Wilkins signed with Cleveland in free agency, joining Robinson during his rookie season and immediately giving the Cavaliers a formidable new duo.
In their first season together, the pair helped Cleveland finish as the No. 5 seed, but their postseason came to an end in the first round against the eventual champion Washington Bullets, led by John Stockton and Clyde Drexler.
The following year, Cleveland stumbled to the No. 8 seed, but the low-seeded Cavaliers gave the No. 1 Philadelphia 76ers, led by Charles Barkley and Moses Malone, everything they could handle. The series went the distance before Cleveland finally fell in Game 5 in Philadelphia.
The very next year, everything changed.
The Cavaliers went from the eighth seed to the best record in the Eastern Conference. For the first time in 14 years, Cleveland not only advanced beyond the first round, but returned to the Eastern Conference Finals.
And just like in 1976, the Celtics were waiting.
This time, however, Cleveland entered the series as the favorite. One of the reasons for the Cavaliers' transformation was the addition of Joe Dumars, who left New York to join Cleveland and give Robinson and Wilkins a legitimate Big Three.
Cleveland took a 3-2 series lead over Larry Bird's Celtics, putting the franchise on the doorstep of its first NBA Finals appearance. But everything changed in Game 6 in Boston, when Dominique Wilkins suffered an injury. The Celtics took advantage, winning the next two games and eliminating the Cavaliers in heartbreaking fashion.
Cleveland returned to the top of the East the following year, once again finishing with the best record in the conference and once again advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. This time, however, a new power stood in their way.
The Detroit Pistons had signed Len Bias in the offseason, creating a formidable new force in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland won the opening game of the series, but Detroit responded by winning the next four.
For the second straight season, the Cavaliers' super team had suffered a disappointing ending.
The following offseason brought another major change. Wilkins left for Los Angeles, signing with the Clippers. Cleveland responded by adding two-time champion Xavier McDaniel to replace him, but the new-look Cavaliers couldn't make another deep run, falling in the first round as the No. 5 seed.
Then came another unexpected turning point.
After losing Joe Dumars to free agency, Cleveland replaced him with Michael Williams. Few expected much from the Cavaliers after losing one of the key pieces of their Big Three. Instead, they finished second in the East and finally broke through.
Cleveland defeated the No. 4 seed Detroit Pistons in the Conference Finals, earning the franchise its first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.
Waiting for them was Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers appeared to have the series firmly in their control after taking a 3-1 lead, putting Magic Johnson and Los Angeles on the verge of another championship.
Instead, the Cavaliers refused to go away, winning three straight games to complete the historic comeback and capture the franchise's first-ever NBA championship on the road at The Forum.
It wasn't LeBron James who brought Cleveland its first championship.
It was David Robinson, and the Admiral wasn't finished.
Five years later, Robinson led an entirely different Cavaliers team back to the NBA Finals. Waiting for them was a familiar opponent: Len Bias. For the third time, it was Bias vs. Robinson.
This time, the series went all the way to Game 7. After years of coming up short, the five-time MVP Len Bias finally captured his first championship, while Cleveland fell just short of its second.
That would be the Cavaliers' last moment of glory through the 2000 season. Robinson remained in Cleveland, but the final two years of the decade brought only one playoff appearance, ending in a first-round loss.
The comparison to real life couldn't be more striking. During this same era, the real-life Cavaliers reached the Eastern Conference Finals just once, in 1992, where they lost to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.
In the Rewritten Rings universe, there was no Jordan to stand in their way. Instead, David Robinson became the generational superstar in Cleveland, leading the Cavaliers to two NBA Finals appearances and their first championship in franchise history.
Check back for future updates as we continue to rewrite the history of the Cavaliers and discover what comes next in this alternate basketball universe.
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