The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Chicago Bulls 108-105 on Wednesday to advance to 36-17 on the season. Entering the NBA All-Star break, the Cavs find themselves second in the Eastern Conference standings and tied for the fourth-best record in the entire NBA — only you likely wouldn’t have known that if you follow the league via the national media.
Despite Cleveland being one of the league’s best teams to this point in the regular season, the Cavs’ success has largely flown under the radar. And following Cleveland’s latest victory — which was broadcast on ESPN — Bally Sports Ohio’s Brad Daugherty took the opportunity to call out the national media.
“We don’t get any respect nationally. I had a couple of conversations with my national friends who do broadcasts today and I just said, ‘It’s just ridiculous,'” the former Cavaliers center said on Bally Sports Ohio’s postgame show. “We get no respect from anyone throughout the NBA. If the New York Knicks had been on this winning streak, the whole world would know about it. It’s OK. We just gotta keep playing, keep winning basketball games. Donovan Mitchell’s the best player in the game right now. We know he is and we’ll show ’em in April.”
Brad and AC taking direct shots at the national media for not covering the Cavs properly
I LOVE THESE GUYS#LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/5phgohIjNk
— Isaac Okoro Fan Club (@IsaacOkoroFan) February 15, 2024
Daugherty’s criticism regarding the lack of attention on the Cavs is fair, although Cleveland is hardly the only team to have gone overlooked this season. In addition to the Cavs, one could argue that the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans have yet to receive the credit they deserve.
Rather, the most mainstream NBA story this week has focused on the report that the Golden State Warriors had inquired about acquiring LeBron James ahead of last week’s NBA trade deadline — a hypothetical trade between two teams currently slated for the Play-In Tournament that didn’t ultimately come to fruition. In fact, when it comes to the regular season, the on-court product often seems to come secondary in favor of off-court drama and player movement rumors.
As for why, one reason could be that regular-season success doesn’t always carry over into the playoffs. Nobody should know that better than the Cavs, who went 51-31 a year ago, only to be eliminated by the aforementioned Knicks in a lopsided five-game series in the opening round.
To Daugherty’s point, if Cleveland is going to get its due, it’s going to have to happen in April. In the meantime, the Cavs will likely continue to fly under the radar, even if that’s a problem that’s not necessarily unique to Cleveland.
