Cleveland Cavaliers Championship Wins & NBA Finals History

The Cleveland Cavaliers entered the NBA Playoffs 2025 as No. 1 in the Eastern Conference with the hope of winning a championship for the second time in the franchise story.

Cleveland ended with 64 wins, the second highest total number of the league. The success of this team has caused many to ask where this team is one of the best in the history of Cavaliers.

This is the team's second highest victory in history and marks the third time in history that the team won more than 60 games in a single season. But this team hopes to make another first for the franchise: win 60 regular seasonal games and make the NBA final.

If the playoffs continue, we look back at the last (and first) NBA championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers only won an NBA championship in the franchise story. But it was so much larger than basketball for the city of Cleveland.

The Cavs were in the middle of a monumental run, in which the team reached the NBA final four in a row (next to the Golden State Warriors). Unfortunately they were neglected three times. But on June 19, 2016, Cleveland ended more than half a century of heartache.

It was Cleveland's first big sports championship since 1964. It was just as an exorcism as a victory. After he sounded “the trip” and “The Fumble” and “The Shot” and 'Jose Mesa's collapse' and 'the decision', Cleveland was desperate after a win.

Lebron James existed. But like all relationships, it became complicated.

James left the Cavaliers in 2010, joined the Miami Heat and created a “super team” with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. When he returned to Cleveland in 2014, he swore to bring the city a title (or more).

He was neglected in 2015 and lost in six games against the Golden State Warriors. The following year the Cavs were against the Warriors (a team that won a record game of 73 games in the regular season). Another “near-without-grade cigar” moment seemed to be a moment for the city.

But James (and Point Guard Kyrie Irving) was not yet finished.

James and Irving scored five 41 points in game to reduce the deficit to 3–2. James fell 41 again in game 6 (including 18 in a row in the third and fourth quarter), together with a legendary chassedown block on MVP Steph Curry. As a result, the Cavs were the first team in NBA history to forced a game seven in the final after falling 3-1.

Game Seven was a close competition when the game changed 20 lead, but Cleveland played Lockdown defense in the last five minutes and kept Golden State goalless. This included an incredible status of Cavs Forward Kevin Love, who switched to Curry and forced him to take a competitive three pointer.

When it ended, the buzzer in the Oracle Arena and Cleveland was no longer cursed.

The man you call “King James” is the most important player in the history of the Cavalier franchise and is not particularly close.

James has practically every large statistical category in the history of the Cavaliers, including: points, assists, rebounds, steals and minutes. He won two MVP awards when he brought the Cleveland team to five finals and the franchise brought his only championship.

And he did everything after he was number 1 in the NBA design of 2003 and at the same time the next Michael Jordan was anointed.

In the end, he granted all expectations and is not only the greatest player in the history of Cavaliers, but could also be the greatest player in NBA history to boat.

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