When LeBron James announced he was signing with the Miami Heat this past off-season, everyone knew the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to be bad. But I don’t think anyone expected them to be this bad. They lost yet again last night at home to the Detroit Pistons, 103-94, to extend their NBA-record losing streak to 26 games. They’ve been absolutely terrible this season and currently have an 8-45 record, which is easily worst in the league.

The Cavs’ last win came back on Dec. 18 when they needed overtime to beat the Knicks at home, 109-102. Since then, their closest shots at winning have been a one-point loss at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves (13-39) and a two-point loss at the New Jersey Nets (16-37). Other than that, they’ve been getting absolutely demolished. Even including those two close games, they have lost by a margin of 14 points per game during their losing streak. The Cavs actually didn’t start out the season too bad. They began the season with a 95-87 win at home against the Boston Celtics and were 4-3 in their first seven games. But then it started to go downhill, and fast.

The Cavs do have a stretch of winnable games coming up, though, against the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Clippers. They also play nine of their next 10 games at home, which hasn’t really helped much up to this point, but it’s much better than playing on the road. The good thing for the Cavs, though, is they don’t have to worry about being the worst team in NBA history a title that belongs to the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, which finished with a 9-73 record.

There are a few contributing factors to why the Cavs have been so bad this season. Obviously the No. 1 reason is the departure of James, who has been one of the league’s top scorers since he came into the league. It’s amazing how one player can make such a difference, but I guess when you lose one of the best, if not the best, player in the NBA you’re not going to be as good as you were when he was there. The Cavs finished the 2009-10 season with an NBA-best 61-21 record, but lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Boston Celtics. And with the way the Cavs look this season, it may be a long while until they even make it to the playoffs again.

Now I know why Cavs fans were so upset after James announced he was heading to Miami. But you can’t blame him for getting out of Cleveland while he had the chance. It just goes to show you that the supporting cast he had in Cleveland wasn’t good enough to win him a championship. His decision to go to Miami and join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh is proving to be a good one so far. And while James will be safely in the playoffs and looking to win an NBA championship, his old team will be watching at home and figuring out how to bounce back from life without their star player. And with that, I wish them all the luck in the world because they’re going to need it.

Submitted by Steve Giles