The

1997–98 NBA season The 1997–98 NBA season was the 52nd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their third straight championship and sixth in the last eight years, beating the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 in ...

was the 28th season for the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. In the 1997 NBA draft, the Cavaliers selected shooting guard Derek Anderson from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

with the thirteenth overall pick, selected point guard Brevin Knight out of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

with the sixteenth overall pick, and selected small forward Cedric Henderson from the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

with the 45th overall pick. Lithuanian rookie center

Zydrunas Ilgauskas Zydrunas Ilgauskas (; ; born June 5, 1975) is a Lithuanian-born American former professional basketball player who played the center position. The Ilgauskas played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association from 1997 to ...

, who was drafted by the Cavaliers with the 20th overall pick in the

1996 NBA draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th NBA draft, draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996–97 NBA season, 1996, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns s ...

, but missed all of the previous season due to a foot injury, would make his debut in the NBA this season. During the off-season, the team acquired All-Star forward

Shawn Kemp Shawn Travis Kemp Sr. (born November 26, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association ( ...

from the Seattle SuperSonics in a three-team trade, acquired

Wesley Person Wesley Lavon Person (born March 28, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After his playing career, Person became a women's basketball assistant coach and then the h ...

from the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

in another three-team trade, and signed free agent Mitchell Butler. The Cavaliers struggled with a 4–6 start to the regular season, as Bob Sura went down with an ankle injury and only played just 46 games, and Butler was out for the remainder of the season with a neck injury after 18 games. However, the team posted a ten-game winning streak between November and December, and later on held a 27–20 record at the All-Star break. The Cavaliers played above .500 basketball for the remainder of the season, finishing in fifth place in the Central Division with a 47–35 record, earning the #6 seed in the Eastern Conference, and qualifying for the

NBA playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...

after a one-year absence. The Cavaliers had the best team defensive rating in the NBA. Kemp averaged 18.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, 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, Knight contributed 9.0 points, 8.2 assists, and led the league with 196 total steals, averaging 2.5 steals per game, while Anderson provided with 11.7 points and 1.3 steals per game off the bench, playing 66 games due to a knee injury, Henderson contributed 10.1 points per game, and second-year center Vitaly Potapenko averaged 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game off the bench. During the NBA All-Star weekend in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, Kemp was selected for the

1998 NBA All-Star Game The 1998 NBA All-Star Game was the 48th edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game. The event was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The East won the game 135–114. Besides the NBA All-Star game, there were t ...

, which would be his sixth and final All-Star appearance, and Ilgauskas won the Most Valuable Player award in the NBA Rookie Game. Ilgauskas and Knight were both named to the

NBA All-Rookie First Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

, while Anderson and Henderson were both selected the

NBA All-Rookie Second Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

; Knight also finished tied in eleventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and head coach

Mike Fratello Michael Robert Fratello (born February 24, 1947), nicknamed "the Czar", is an American sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional basketball coach. He is currently a part-time Color commentator, analyst for FanDuel Sports Net ...

finished in third place in

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

voting. However, in the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1998 NBA playoffs, the Cavaliers would lose in four games to the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, and they would not make it back to the postseason until

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. For the season, the team slightly redesigned their uniforms, which remained in use until 1999. Until

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, this was the last time the Cavaliers made the playoffs without future All-Star

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

, who was selected by the team as the first overall pick in the

2003 NBA draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

Offseason

Free agents

Trades

Draft picks

^*1st round pick acquired from Phoenix in three-way Antonio McDyess deal.SUNS: Suns Rise Again in West
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Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z - clinched division title :y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

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Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , April 23 , @

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

L 77–106
,

(25) ,

(13) , Brevin Knight (5) ,

Market Square Arena Market Square Arena (MSA) was an indoor arena in Indianapolis. Completed in 1974, at a cost of $23 million, it seated 16,530 for basketball and 15,993 for ice hockey. Seating capacity for concerts and other events was adjusted by the use of larg ...

16,644 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , April 25 , @

L 86–92
,

(27) ,

(10) , Brevin Knight (7) ,

16,617 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , April 27 ,

W 86–77
,

(31) , Kemp,

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

(7) , three players tied (5) , Gund Arena
17,495 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , April 30 ,

L 74–80
,

(21) ,

(12) , Brevin Knight (6) , Gund Arena
18,188 , 1–3 , -

Player stats

Regular season

Playoffs

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

Awards

, NBA All-Rookie First Team * Brevin Knight, NBA All-Rookie First Team * Derek Anderson, NBA All-Rookie Second Team * Cedric Henderson, NBA All-Rookie Second Team

Records

Milestones

All-Star

–

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Development League

References

*
Cleveland Cavaliers on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:1997-98 Cleveland Cavaliers Season Cleveland Cavaliers seasons Cleve Cleve