Cleveland Cavaliers Retired Numbers
The Cleveland Cavaliers have retired 6 numbers. Each one below records who wore it, the seasons they wore it, and what earned it a place in the rafters.
Back to Cleveland CavaliersBingo Smith
1970-1979
Before LeBron James, before the Miracle of Richfield meant anything to the wider sports world, there was Bobby Lee Smith — Bingo — wearing #7 for a Cleveland franchise still finding its identity one season at a time. The Cavaliers entered the NBA as a 1970 expansion team and made Smith their first-round pick, 13th overall out of Tennessee. He played nine seasons in wine and gold, from 1970 to 1979, scoring between 10 and 17 points a game and appearing in 682 games — the most of any player in the team's first decade.
Why #7 was retiredLarry Nance
1988-1994
The Cleveland Cavaliers retired Larry Nance's #22 because of what he represented during the most successful era of pre-LeBron Cleveland basketball — the defensive conscience of teams that competed at the highest level of the Eastern Conference. The Phoenix Suns selected Nance 20th overall out of Clemson in 1984, where his elevation earned the nickname Skywalker and he won the inaugural NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
Why #22 was retiredMark Price
1986-1995
The Cleveland Cavaliers retired Mark Price's #25 because of what he built across nine seasons — individually and culturally — as the player who made the Cavaliers a team fans outside Ohio paid attention to. Cleveland spent a second-round pick on the 6-foot Georgia Tech guard in 1986 after 24 other teams passed; he became one of the most accurate and efficient point guards in NBA history.
Why #25 was retiredAustin Carr
1971-1980
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Austin Carr with the first overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft after he averaged 41.3 points per game across three NCAA Tournament appearances at Notre Dame — a record that still stands. He played for Cleveland from 1971 to 1980, surviving the expansion-era struggles to become the franchise's most beloved figure. His nickname, Mr. Cavalier, was not handed out by marketing; it emerged from nearly a decade of commitment to a team that could not always offer winning basketball in return.
Why #34 was retiredNate Thurmond
1975-1977
Nate Thurmond played just two seasons for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and in virtually any other franchise's history that would not be enough to retire a number. But in 1975 and 1976 his presence was the catalyst for the Miracle of Richfield — the genuine playoff run that made an entire region believe. He arrived in 1975 at 33, already one of the greatest centers in NBA history after eleven seasons in San Francisco and Golden State, a player who could guard Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar below their averages.
Why #42 was retiredBrad Daugherty
1986-1994
The Cleveland Cavaliers retired Brad Daugherty's #43 because he was the best player in franchise history during the eight seasons he played — and because a career ending at 28 made the honor an acknowledgment of what might have been. Cleveland selected Daugherty with the first overall pick in 1986, their second first-overall choice ever after Austin Carr in 1971. From 1986 to 1994 he averaged 19.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, serving as the hub of a Cavaliers offense that also featured Mark Price, Larry Nance, and Hot Rod Williams.
Why #43 was retired