The Cavaliers heaped praise on long-time center Zydrunas Ilgauskas after announcing that the team would retire his No. 11 jersey on March 8 at The Q.
Most of the details have yet to be worked out, and tickets won't go on sale for games in the second half of the season, including that one, until Dec. 7, but the Cavs were thrilled to talk about the big Lithuanian on Monday.
"You couldn’t ask for a better person for that to happen to,'' coach Mike Brown said before the exhibition game against Philadelphia at Value City Arena. "He was a cornerstone of the organization for many years. I’m thrilled to death.''
Ilgauskas was the No. 20 pick in the first round of the 1996 draft and overcame numerous foot injuries to become the all-time franchise leader in games played (771), offensive rebounds (2,336), total rebounds (5,904) and blocks (1,269) while ranking second in points scored (10,616).