Ranking the Cleveland Cavaliers logos from 1970 until 2022

The Cleveland Cavaliers will have a new logo for 2022-2023.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will once again have another new logo for their upcoming season. Not only will they sport a new logo, but new colors and new jersey’s as well. It’s a fitting time to roll out the new look, as the Cavs are on the verge of a brand new era for the team.

The colors are close to what fans have known for nearly 20 years, with the wine as the base, but a new gold color is used as the accent. Also gone is the blue outline that man may have missed.

The team is also bringing back a collection of their most famous logos, with the sharp-C, the shield (minus the sword), and the iconic CAVS logo with the ball in the V. Only now, the V and the ball look more like the Larr O’Brien Trophy, helping celebrate the Cavs championship win in 2016.

So in celebration, we’re ranking the logos of years past. For fun, I’ve named the logos. First is the Mustard Muskateer that lasted from the team’s inception to the end of the 82-83 season. Then we have what I’m calling the V-Hoop, with the iconic ball-in-V Cavs logo, in blue and orange. Then the one I’m calling the Crash Splash, where the ball and hoop are above the CAVS name, but the hoops is breaking apart like glass. That one lasted from 94 to 03. After that, we had two Cavaliers logos where the team name was in front of the ball. Since the two collectively lasted from 2003 to 2017, I’m dubbing them LeBron Logo.

The second version debuted in 2010, after LeBron James left, so that’s going to be dubbed the Lebron-Less Logo. Lastly, we have The Shield logo which debuted in 2017. Now they might have actual names, but using them would be less fun, so here we are. If you’re at all not sure what the logos in question are, just click the gimmicky names I created for them and you’ll see what logo is which.

So, which logo is the worst and which logo is the best? Let’s find out.

Ranking the Cavaliers logos

6. Mustard Muskateer (1970-71 to 1982-83)

This is just flat-out ugly. It looks like a logo in a bad Will Ferrel movie, which is just a Will Ferrell movie, right? The color schemes are ugly and the design of the Cavalier is far from cool.

5. LeBron-less Logo (2010-11 to 2016-17)

The brain trust removed the gold from the “wine and gold” color scheme and went with honeybee yellow. Just ugly.

4. LeBron Logo (2003-04 to 2009-10)

I never liked the original version of this logo either. It felt very “Power Rangery” to me. I think it’s the ball, it really pulls focus from the lettering and rapier (or is it a saber?) Regardless, the two LeBron Era and post-LeBron era logos were ostentatious.

3. The Shield (2017-18 to 2022)

I really liked this logo, my only gripe is that I didn’t like the color scheme. I long for the black and blue or blue and orange color schemes to return. That said, I did enjoy the simplicity of the logo and the unique design.

2. V-Hoop (1983-84 to 1993-94)

This is an iconic 80s and early 90s design if there were ever one. The simplicity, the two-tone color scheme, it just works.

1. Crash Splash (1994-95 to 2002-03)

Yeah, this isn’t the best era of Cavs basketball, with Tyrone Hill, Terrell Brandon Andre Miller, and Danny Ferry being the players most associated with this era (who didn’t utterly disappoint). It has a neat logo that’s placed slightly above the team’s name, and the V-hope has been upgraded to a glass rim and net. The ball is shattering the glass net and it just screams “edgy” which is what the mid-to-late 90s was all about.