Where James Harden Ranks Among Cavaliers To Have Worn No. 1 Jersey

James Harden wears No. 1 for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Coincidentally, in less than two months with the team, Harden’s also played his way into being number one in the hearts of Cavs fans.

OK, maybe he’s number two in their hearts, just behind Donovan Mitchell. But we’re working with recency bias here and even if he is the second-most loved Cavalier, it’s not by much.

In just 17 games, Harden’s made an immediate impact, filling up the stat sheet to the tune of 21 points, eight assists and five boards a night. Those are NBA2K-like numbers for a 36-year-old guard.

Which leads to the question of whether Harden is the best player to ever sport uno for the Wine & Gold.

The list of Cavaliers who have worn number one isn’t particularly long (17 players), though there’s a clear top three in the race for best to do it.

Aside from Harden, the other two names are a couple of Cavs who spent less time in Cleveland than Johnny Manziel did: Derrick Rose (a portion of the 2018 season) and Rajon Rondo (part of the 2022 campaign).

But this exercise (yeah, go ahead and skip the gym today – you’re welcome) isn’t taking into account only the player’s minutes in Cleveland spent rocking one. We’re talking the best player – period – who happened to spend time on a Cavs roster with a one stitched on their chest.

To be clear, that’s the jersey portion of their chest, not their actual chest. Had anyone done that, bonus points would certainly be awarded.

Now that that’s out the way, the debate can be settled and, truthfully, it’s not overly complicated.

Harden is the clear top choice. He’s one of the Top-75 players in NBA history. He’s an 11-time All-Star, has been named All-NBA eight times, has three scoring titles and was named League MVP during the 2017-18 season. For his career, Harden averages better than 24 points per game, seven assists and five rebounds. Springfield should get a room prepared, because he’s a clear first ballot Hall of Famer the second he walks away.

A pair of guards deserve mention alongside James Harden

Rose, who played just 16 games with Cleveland, had talent to match Harden but was derailed by injury. Still, the top pick in the 2008 NBA Draft managed to make three All-Star teams, an All-NBA team and win a league MVP award.

Rose finished his career averaging more than 17 points and five boards. Had Harden not (stolen?) Max Strus’ number one upon being traded to the Cavs, Rose, who had pogo sticks for legs when he entered the Association, would likely have the honors of being the best to don number one for Cleveland.

As for Rondo, he played the most games with the Cavs (so far), 21, of any of the three candidates. His career numbers aren’t as gaudy as Harden’s or Rose’s, but they’re still impressive: 10 points, eight dimes and four and a half rebounds for the four-time All-Star.

Where his game stood out was on the defensive side of the ball where he was named to the league’s All-Defense team four times. Rondo's basketball IQ is regarded as among the best of those who have laced 'em up. He’s also the only of the three Cavs players mentioned here that have won a title. Rondo has two of those. One with the Celtics (2008) and another with the Lakers (2020). There’s something unholy about that pairing, right?

After that trio, the honorable mentions would be a pair of two-time All-Stars, Terrell Brandon and Carlos Boozer.

You could make an argument that both Brandon and Boozer were better than Rose and Rondo as Cavs and no one outside of the Rose and Rondo families would argue. But again, we’re talking about full careers here.

Exercise finished.

Harden’s the easy choice for best player to have worn #1 for the Cavs.

Don’t sweat it.