2003–04 Cleveland Cavaliers season

2003–04 Cleveland Cavaliers season
LeBron James's rookie season
Head coach	Paul Silas
Owner(s)	Gordon Gund
Arena	Quicken Loans Arena
Results
Record	35–47 (.427)
Place	Division: 5th (Central) Conference: 9th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Fox Sports Net Ohio · WUAB
Radio	WTAM

In the years following their 1998 first-round playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Cavaliers dropped to the bottom of the league and became a perennial entrant in the annual NBA Draft Lottery. The franchise's freefall bottomed out during the 2002–03 season, as the Cavs fell to a 17-65 record, tied with the Denver Nuggets for the league's worst.

However, the fortunes of the franchise shifted dramatically in May 2003, when the Cavs won the first overall pick in the draft lottery. The Cavaliers selected high school phenomenon LeBron James from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in nearby Akron, providing the team with a centerpiece player around which to build.

The Cavs revised their look for the 2003-04 season, introducing a new logo and a variation on the wine and gold color scheme used by the club during the 1970s. Dark blue was also added as a trim color.

The team made major moves during the season, trading Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm, Michael Stewart and second round draft pick to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Eric Williams, Tony Battie, and Kedrick Brown. Later, Darius Miles was traded to the Portland Trailblazers for Jeff McInnis and Ruben Boumtje Boumtje.

Offseason

Despite James being with Cleveland for the first season, Cleveland still did not make the playoffs, still needing improvement.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	1	LeBron James	Small Forward	USA	St. Vincent-St.Mary (Akron, OH)
2	31	Jason Kapono	Forward	USA	UCLA

Roster

Cleveland Cavaliers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From C 4 Battie, Tony 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Texas Tech PF 1 Boozer, Carlos 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 258 lb (117 kg) Duke SG 5 Brown, Kedrick 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Okaloosa-Walton CC C 52 Diop, DeSagana 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 280 lb (127 kg) Oak Hill Academy (HS) C 11 Ilgauskas, Zydrunas 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 238 lb (108 kg) Lithuania SG 33 Jackson, Luke 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Oregon SF 23 James, LeBron 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) St. Vincent-St. Mary (HS) SF 24 Kapono, Jason 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) UCLA PG 0 McInnis, Jeff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 179 lb (81 kg) North Carolina PF 54 Nailon, Lee 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Texas Christian SF 14 Newble, Ira 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Miami (OH) PG 12 Ollie, Kevin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Connecticut SG 2 Wagner, Dajuan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Memphis SF 55 Williams, Eric 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Providence	Head coach Paul Silas Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

• Facing the Sacramento Kings in his first NBA game, LeBron James recorded 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals and shooting 60% from the field.^[1] After recording a season-high 41 points against the New Jersey Nets, James became the youngest player in league history to score 40 points in a game.^[2] He averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game for the season,^[3] and was named Rookie of the Year; becoming the first Cavalier and youngest NBA player to ever receive the award. He joined Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only three players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in their rookie season.^[4] The Cavaliers improved by 18 wins and concluded the regular season with a 35–47 record, but failed to make the playoffs.^[5]

Standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Indiana Pacers	61	21	.744	–	34–7	27–14	20–8
x-Detroit Pistons	54	28	.659	7	31–10	23–18	17–11
x-New Orleans Hornets	41	41	.500	20	25–16	16–25	14–14
x-Milwaukee Bucks	41	41	.500	20	27–14	14–27	15–13
Cleveland Cavaliers	35	47	.427	26	23–18	12–29	14–14
Toronto Raptors	33	49	.402	28	18–23	15–26	11–17
Atlanta Hawks	28	54	.341	33	18–23	10–31	10–18
Chicago Bulls	23	59	.280	38	14–27	9–32	11–17

Game log

2003–04 game log Total: 35–47 (Home: 23–18; Road: 12–29)
October: 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
November : 4–11 (Home: 4–3; Road: 0–8) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 14 November 22, 2003 @ Atlanta L 83–92 Phillips Arena 19,445 4–10
December : 6–9 (Home: 4–5; Road: 2–4) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 20 December 6, 2003 Atlanta W 95–85 Gund Arena 17,390 5–15
January : 7–7 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–6) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
February : 7–6 (Home: 3–4; Road: 4–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
March : 8–7 (Home: 5–3; Road: 3–4) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 61 March 3, 2004 Atlanta W 112–80 Gund Arena 20,562 25–36 64 March 8, 2004 @ Atlanta W 108–102 Phillips Arena 14,050 28–36
April : 3–5 (Home: 2–2; Road: 1–3) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
2003–04 season schedule

Player stats

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tony Battie*	50	1	19.5	.427	.125	.768	4.8	.7	.36	.94	5.4
Carlos Boozer	75	75	34.6	.523	.167	.768	11.4	2.0	.99	.73	15.5
Kedrick Brown*	34	16	16.5	.465	.388	.643	2.3	1.1	.38	.15	5.3
Mateen Cleaves	4	2	23.0	.304	.000	.500	1.8	4.8	1.00	.50	3.8
DeSagana Diop	56	3	13.0	.388	.000	.600	3.6	.6	.46	.91	2.3
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	81	81	31.3	.483	.286	.746	8.1	1.3	.48	2.48	15.3
LeBron James	79	79	39.5	.417	.290	.754	5.5	5.9	1.65	.73	20.9
Jason Kapono	41	3	10.4	.403	.477	.833	1.3	.3	.32	.05	3.5
Jelani McCoy	2	0	6.0	.000	.000	.000	2.0	.0	.00	.00	.0
Jeff McInnis*	31	31	35.4	.417	.388	.836	2.6	7.5	1.16	.13	11.7
Lee Nailon*	22	4	18.0	.451	.000	.800	3.0	.8	.18	.05	7.7
Ira Newble	64	25	19.5	.391	.105	.783	2.4	1.1	.39	.30	4.0
Kevin Ollie	82	7	17.1	.370	.444	.835	2.1	2.9	.62	.10	4.2
Dajuan Wagner	44	4	16.1	.366	.360	.681	1.3	1.2	.59	.16	6.5
Eric Williams*	50	36	27.5	.366	.253	.787	3.8	1.9	.96	.16	9.4

* Statistics include only games with the Cavaliers

Award winners

• LeBron James, Shooting Guard, Rookie of the Year
• LeBron James, Shooting Guard, NBA All-Rookie First Team

References

1. basketball-reference.com, James 2003-04 Game Log, accessed April 27, 2007.
2. espn.com, James receives 78 of 118 first-place votes, accessed May 7, 2007.
3. nba.com, LeBron James: Player Info Page, accessed April 27, 2007.
4. nba.com, LeBron James: NBA Bio, accessed April 27, 2007.
5. basketball-reference.com, 2003-04 Cleveland Cavaliers, accessed April 27, 2007.

• Cleveland Cavaliers on Database Basketball
• Cleveland Cavaliers on Basketball Reference