1997–98 Cleveland Cavaliers season

The 1997–98 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 28th season for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association.^[1] In the 1997 NBA draft, the Cavaliers selected shooting guard Derek Anderson from the University of Kentucky with the 13th overall pick, selected point guard Brevin Knight out of Stanford University with the 16th overall pick, and selected small forward Cedric Henderson from the University of Memphis with the 45th overall pick.^[2][3][4] Lithuanian rookie center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was drafted by the Cavaliers as the 20th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, but missed all of the previous season due to a foot injury, made his debut in the NBA this season. During the off-season, the team acquired All-Star forward Shawn Kemp from the Seattle SuperSonics in a three-team trade,^[5][6][7] acquired Wesley Person from the Phoenix Suns in another three-team trade,^[8][9][10] and signed free agent Mitchell Butler.

With the addition of Kemp, Person, Ilgauskas and Knight, the Cavaliers struggled with a 4–6 start to the regular season, as Bob Sura only played just 46 games due to an ankle injury,^[11][12] and Butler was out for the remainder of the season due to a neck injury after 18 games.^[13][14] However, the team posted a 10-game winning streak between November and December afterwards,^[15] and later on held a 27–20 record at the All-Star break.^[16] The Cavaliers played above .500 in winning percentage for the remainder of the season, finishing in fifth place in the Central Division with a 47–35 record, earning the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, and qualifying for the NBA playoffs after a one-year absence.^[17] The Cavaliers had the best team defensive rating in the NBA.^[18]

Kemp averaged 18.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, but only shot .445 in field-goal percentage, while Person averaged 14.7 points and 1.6 steals per game, and also led the league with 192 three-point field goals, and Ilgauskas provided the team with 13.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. In addition, Anderson played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 11.7 points and 1.3 steals per game in 66 games due to a knee injury,^[19][20] while Henderson provided with 10.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, and Knight contributed 9.0 points, 8.2 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Off the bench, second-year center Vitaly Potapenko averaged 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, while Sura provided with 5.8 points and 3.7 assists per game, and Ferry contributed 4.2 points per game.^[21] Ilgauskas and Knight were both named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while Anderson and Henderson were both named the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, Kemp was selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was his sixth and final All-Star appearance.^[22][23][24] Meanwhile, Ilgauskas, Knight, Henderson and Anderson were all selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as members of the Eastern Conference Rookie team, although Anderson did not participate due to injury.^[25][26] Ilgauskas scored 18 points along with 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, and was named the Rookie Game's Most Valuable Player, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 85–80.^[27][23][26] In addition, Person participated in the inaugural NBA 2Ball Competition, along with Michelle Edwards of the WNBA's Cleveland Rockers.^[28][29] Knight finished tied in eleventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting,^[30] while head coach Mike Fratello finished in third place in Coach of the Year voting.^[31][30]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1998 NBA playoffs, the Cavaliers faced off against the 3rd–seeded Indiana Pacers, who were led by All-Star guard Reggie Miller, All-Star center Rik Smits, and Chris Mullin. The Cavaliers lost the first two games to the Pacers on the road at the Market Square Arena, but managed to win Game 3 at home, 86–77 at the Gund Arena.^[32] However, the Cavaliers lost Game 4 to the Pacers at home, 80–74, thus losing the series in four games.^[33][34][35] This would also be the team's final NBA playoff appearance until the 2005–06 season, as what would follow was a seven-year playoff drought.^[1]

The Cavaliers finished 14th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 694,629 at the Gund Arena during the regular season.^[21][36] For the season, the Cavaliers slightly updated their home and road uniforms; the uniforms still featured the controversial light blue splash across their jerseys, but were removed from their shorts and replaced with a much smaller light blue splash on the bottom of the left leg. The team nickname "Cavs" was changed from orange to black with orange inlines on their white home uniforms, while the city name "Cleveland" was changed from orange to white with orange inlines on their black road uniforms; both uniforms featured the team's primary logo of a basketball going into a net on the right leg of their shorts. The team's updated uniforms would remain in use until 1999.^[37][38]

Until the 2022–23 season, this was the final season in which the Cavaliers qualified for the NBA playoffs without future All-Star LeBron James, who was selected by the team as the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft.