Cleveland Cavaliers Archives - Gray & Company, Publishers

A Warm Look Back at the Cavaliers of the Cleveland Arena and Richfield Coliseum Years

A Game from 1988: The Cavaliers vs. Michael Jordan and the Bulls

The Bulls were so young, future stars Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant were coming off the bench. And the Cavs? They had John Williams, Craig Ehlo and Dell Curry coming off their bench. These were two good teams who indeed would be battling it out in the playoffs for several years. This was not Michael Jordan’s “Shot” in Game 5 of the 1989 playoffs. It wasn’t a playoff game at all. It was just a March night in the NBA from decades ago at my favorite place to watch a game. The Richfield Coliseum.

World B. Free, wearing Cavs uniform, raises his left arm and smiles

Why the Cavs Should Retire World B. Free’s Number

The Cavaliers were the worst team in the NBA with a 3-19 record on Dec. 15, 1982. Even worse, they were probably the most boring team to watch. Then came World B. Free. “I remember when I got to the Cleveland airport right after the trade,” Free told me in 1986. “The people looked tired. I said I was going to pump some life into this place. ‘What Cleveland needed was World B. shakin’, bakin’, stoppin’ and poppin’.”

At top, a photo of the Coliseum at Richfield, in winter. At bottom, a photo of a field of tall grass (where the Coliseum once stood)

Ghosts … (The Coliseum and the Arena)

Someone once said, “You know you’ve reached a certain age when you remember a sports venue being built, and then see the same building torn down.” I think of that when driving down Route 303 in Richfield, at the exit off Interstate 271. Now, there is nothing but a field bumping up against some nearby farms and barns. But once upon a time, a great arena rose up among the trees and squirrels and deer and prairie grass …

Cleveland Cavaliers

A Game from 1988: The Cavaliers vs. Michael Jordan and the Bulls

Why the Cavs Should Retire World B. Free’s Number

Ghosts … (The Coliseum and the Arena)

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